When Darkness Falls
by Ravyn
Summary: For two years Kaoru has avoided the demon who has invaded her dreams. But the week-long solar eclipse is when fire-mages are at their weakest... and the demon isn’t the only creature hunting...
1. Chapter 1

The good news about this story is that it is almost done. Right now, we're looking at about three chapters. I wanted to keep it reasonable! I still have to finish Path of Thorns, after all. Some violence, a lot of me playing with various shades of magic.

Kenshin is going to be leaning (or jumping straight over the line) into Battousai territory in this one. Mostly heavily in this chapter than the others.

I hope you enjoy.

Ravyn

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Warning: Violence, death, magic. The usual. =)

* * *

Kaoru opened her eyes. The tent was too dark to see clearly but it felt normal. A quick glance to the front flaps told her that not more than two, maybe three hours had passed since she had done little more than roll herself up in a blanket and pass out from exhaustion. She was still tired – the marks on her wrist a dull, throbbing ache of overuse. Closing her eyes, she found herself too exhausted to fully sleep so she tried to settle into a doze. The sudden coughing-snore of her shield-brother jarred her fully awake and she glared at Sano.

It appeared to be time to get those damn snoring spells renewed. Wearily closing her eyes, she tried to pinpoint what had woken her. The silence in the campsite told her that the rest of the unit was sleeping soundly and there was a distinct lack of fire. She grimaced. Damn goblins. She needed the chance to bake in the afternoon sun or next to a good hot fire to regain some of her energy levels but with the constant rain and the _eclipse_… only a few more days. Reaching up she scrubbed at her eyes. Without the sun, neither her magic nor the fire-beast buried deep in her soul could recharge. She had pushed herself almost too-far and what little bit of elemental power she had left was wrapped up in the fire-beast – keeping her from burning out. She was so damn tired.

But no matter how she laid there, she couldn't fall back asleep.

Finally giving up, she pushed herself into a sitting position slowly, aware of aches and pains from too many battle skirmishes and not enough time to heal. She curled the blanket around her shoulders and shifted so she wouldn't spill out the back of the cot if she put too much pressure on the tent walls. The thick sludge that had once been thick, fertile earth made walking difficult and the tent walls precarious; it had been hard enough to get into her blankets the first time without dragging the mud with her. She had no desire to try to attempt to feat twice.

At least she hadn't dreamed tonight.

Shivering at the sound of rain beating lightly against the canvas of the tent, she curled a little further into her blanket. She should have been asleep. She would have even allowed the dreams – but the lack of them had been their own sort of message. He needed her magic to force the connection. It was possible that he was tracking her mage work and that was a little unsettling. It meant his connection was also to fire and that he could feel her mage power when it was in use. That sort of connect… but she had never heard of a demon that would put that much effort into hunting a mage who had simply made eye contact – brief eye contact for all that it had seared right through her for few seconds. Hot and yellow, with narrow pupils, his eyes that had burned through her until the crowd had jostled her forward. She hadn't caught more than glimpse of the rest of him. She didn't know his height, hair color or any scars of tattoos that might have given her a clue to his identity; demons with that much didn't stay anonymous for long in this realm.

Curling her fingers a little tighter into the blankets, she chewed on the inside of her lip. Two years was a long time to hunt and dream magic wasn't a specialty of fire-demons. Dream magic wasn't a specialty of _any demon_ that she had ever heard off and no one that she had asked seemed to be willing to talk about it or just didn't have an answer for her. Even performing the fire cleansing ritual hadn't been able to shake those fluttery images – always hovering just outside her awareness as she slept. Her fire-beast hadn't seemed affected by his presence and it hadn't appeared that he had had been trying to make an offer for a deeper connection. Her beast hadn't done more than tighten her defenses around Kaoru's soul and magic after that first connection between them.

She couldn't figure out what he wanted or how to get rid of him. Demons were a fairly dangerous bred and she had no interest in getting involved in anything this one might have planned. She just didn't know enough about their cultural to plan a defense – even though he didn't seem to be actively hunting her outside of her rest. Lips curving into a frown, she scowled as Sano snorted again. She probably should have been more prepared for that kind of thing anyway. The borders of the deserts always brought out the interesting races. It was in the hearts of jungles or high in the mountains that you actually had to go looking for trouble. Here, in the valley beneath the deep cuts in the Dragons Back, it was populated mostly by humans and the occasional strange sidhe or elf.

And goblins.

At least when she was sleeping she was too exhausted for him to reach her. If he truly was a fire-demon… right now she would cling to just about any source of heat. The heat of him would have been a draw she would have been unable to resist – it had been two days since she had sunk into the heat of a fire or felt the rays of the sun and it hurt like an old wound. She was near dry and would have to rely on her sword to see her through the upcoming skirmishes.

"I thought I told you to get some sleep." Sano's voice was groggy and cranky.

"A troll is less repulsive than you when you're snoring. I fail to see how anyone in this unit sleeping with that racket."

Sano snorted and sat up, hair sticking in all directions. Kaoru had to shift to the side to let him stretch. The tent was longer than it was wide and it made for cramped conditions that were annoying at best. Still, it made it easier to stay warm during the harsh winter months when they camped out on the flat plains with feet of snow. She shivered at the thought.

"Dreams?" There was an undertone to his voice that gave more to the question than his actual words. Sano had been even more alarmed than she by the sudden attachment to her sleep and had done just about everything from hanging garlic outside the tent to finding enough salt grains to circle her cot with. Nothing worked, but at least he tried.

"No. I'm not sure what woke me."

He grunted and flopped back down, throwing an arm over his eyes. She winced as the cot tried to buckle under his abuse but held. She'd have to let the blacksmith know his spells on the fragile metal had improved.

"I hate this country and I _hate_ goblins."

Kaoru agreed with him. They had been stuck in this rain and mud because of a troop of goblins that had decided to build a nest at the base of the mountains. Probably was, once they were in they were damn difficult to remove. They'd been fighting on and off to days and this was the first real night anyone had gotten sleep.

Sano cracked one eye open and stared at her.

Kaoru rolled her eyes but allowed the flat glare of his gaze under his arm coax her to lie back down. Curling her cold feet together, she waited for her body to warm and relax. Warm it did but nothing she tried gave her enough peace to sleep again. Which was unusual. Six years with Sano as her shield-brother, she could count on one hand the number of times she had been unable to rest with him at her side after that first year. Shutting her eyes to give the impression of sleep, she turned her nose into the blanket and wished she could scream.

"You still suck at faking."

"Some of us don't have your practice."

"Hey! I'm excellent at faking! Totally fooled that crazy ninja clan at Three Rivers."

"My point _exactly_."

He grunted. "You do remember what happened the last time we were in the desert, right? The demonic version of a cockroach?"

Kaoru opened her eyes and glared at him. "That was not my fault."

"You couldn't just keep your eyes down like a normal person?"

"I'm a damn mercenary!"

Sano opened his eyes. "No need to get cranky. I'm just pointing out the obvious. Knowing our luck, we'll attract a fucking dragon or something."

Kaoru groaned. "At least that one might shoot fire at us instead of ice."

Sano flushed under the mud on his face. "That was unnecessary."

"You're the one who brought up the cockroach."

"Any idea…"

"Not a damn clue."

"Fabulous. Oh well… I guess a visit to the desert will let me rile up that cute doctor-lady who works for the temple branch there."

"You're terrible."

"So says the shield-partner keeping me awake when I should be sleeping."

She smiled, finally relaxing. Closing her eyes, she reached one last time to check on the scouts with what she had left and jerked straight up. A loud, high scream cut through the air followed by the shouts and war cries from hundreds of throats.

"_Goblins_!"

She threw herself off the cot and into the thick sludge that made up the floor of the valley, landing on top of Sano who had dove off his cot at the sound of the first scream. Arrows tore through the canvas and the top of the tent pole shattered, trapping them as the heavy canvas fell. She needed a weapon and she needed to be free. Her feet stocking feet and knees sank into the mud as she clawed her way out of the tent and off Sano, shoving aside her cot and reaching for the sword she had tucked close for easy access.

Sano bellowed next to her and came out of the canvas like a bull, swinging the tree branch that had been the tent pole like a whip. Ducking under his trajectory, she scrambled to unsheathe her sword. She didn't have the power to call it straight out of the sheath and it was still so dark… her fingers slipped along the hilt, slick with mud and she jerked the steel free before ducking as Sano bashed another dark skinned Goblin away from her back. Lunging forward, adrenaline erased the last of her exhausting and channeled it into energy. Sliding behind Sano, she took up guard and used his calls and screams to guide her as they fought through the worst of the goblins, working through the tight knots of combatants as they searched for higher, dryer ground.

Finally moving out of the sucking mud and onto rocky ground, they were able to move quickly enough to cut something of a clearing around them. Sano was cursing a blue streak, arm bleeding freely where a goblin had taken a chunk of his arm with its teeth. Kaoru was trying to compensate for a bruised should and was fairly certain she was going to have match teeth marks before the night was over.

"Where the hell did these things come from?" Kaoru gasped, trying to feel how many bodies were around them. Even goblins carried a little fire in their blood – they weren't cold creatures like drakes and the Ice People. There were too many! They had slaughtered nearly half this force just that afternoon. This was too large to be a nesting colony so why…

"I don't know but when I found out whoever was on duty is going to eat his fucking teeth!"

Kaoru blocked a poorly aimed arrow and swore, crouching down, "Sano."

"What!"

"Can you see what the rest of the unit is dealing with? We shouldn't be the only ones up here!"

With this much mud, the rocky places should be the first places the men moved to defend themselves against the onslaught. Goblins were smaller, lighter than human bulk and slid through the mud were human weight was sucked down. Kaoru could feel the flickers as the other two elemental mages tried to fight off the onslaught – both were water elementals and would only be adding to the mess.

"Most of them are in clumps but a few are over there fighting… _something_. Shit, I can't see well enough to tell." Sano jerked around and almost took an arrow to the face. Cursing he flattened himself.

"Shit, damn and double damn."

"_What_?"

Peering around a rock, she squinted and cursed. There were flares lighting up along the low ridge of the Dragon Back. Goblins. Lots of them, if she wasn't missing her mark. Oh just damn. They were already over run and this…

Something brushed along the edge of her senses and it stung like needles – tried to yank her in its direction but she didn't have enough magic for it to latch onto. Jerking back, she panted heavily, staring at the darkness. What… was that? Something flickered in the back of her mind, pushing to the front but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Whatever it was, she couldn't fight it in her current state and that meant there were more problems than goblins.

"Sano, we've got to get out of here!"

He nodded grimly. "Yes."

"What's your plan?"

Sano's face fell and he kept his eyes on the empty area around him. "Me? I'm supposed to have a plan? When do _I_ ever have _a plan_?"

Before Kaoru could answer another wave of goblins made another pass at them. The work was tough, butchering slashes that required more muscle than finesse and her arms were shaking by the time they were kicking bodies off their little hill. The battle that afternoon had been difficult and to face an equal or great number so soon was taking its toll. Gasping heavily and leaning against Sano's side, she licked dry and cracked lips.

"Options?"

"Cutting are way through here is going to be a bitch and I'm not voting for it. But you're too tired to transport and where would we go?"

Kaoru glared at him and searched for the magic inside her. It was mostly empty, drained to the dregs. Blowing out a long breath, she cut her eyes over to her best friend. He was right… where would she take them? She couldn't take them far but if she got them close enough to the edge of the clearing, near the river. She bit her lip. Her fire-beast would fight her but if she used all the personal energy left and taped into her life force…

"Hang on."

"Hang on? What? No! _No hanging on_! Dammit, _Kaoru_!"

The spell hurt. It carved along the inside of her chest like a jagged knife and she couldn't breathe past the pain in her lungs as the magic searched through her for the power she demanded it use to take them out of the clearing. Her fire-beast flared to life and fought her for control – to keep her from over using her power – and for a moment they hovered and then disappeared, leaving behind only faint sparks of fire as the _between_ pulled them in… and both woman and beast ran dry; the transportation spell faltered. Feeling like she was being ripped apart at the seams, she fought to keep herself together as the magic tore at her for _more_. Her beast struggled with her and it shrieked in fear as she started to pull apart. She was too tired to scream. Closing her eyes, she let the magic pull at her, hoping her death would fuel the spell long enough to get Sano out.

Heat suddenly washed over her skin with all the consistency of honey, holding the edges of her together when they wanted to break apart. She hung there, bathed in heat and _something else_ and then the spell was jerked out of her control and it snapped against her like a too taunt string. It stung and the burning of her wrist told her what she already knew – she'd pushed too far.

When they landed, her knees and legs failed to support her and it was only Sano's arms that kept her from tumbling into a heap as she lost her grip on consciousness.

X

Sano cursed. The earth had turned into some kind of death trap waiting to happen, slick and littered with sharp rocks; barely enough room to walk without sending him over the edge of the path. The limp, barely moving weight on back was difficult enough to balance but her sword was the only weapon they had it kept digging into his thigh. Thank god he'd found the sheath strapped to her back. He was tempted to use it like a damn cane but when Kaoru woke up to find any damage it would be worth his balls.

If they managed to make it out of this.

Pausing to toss his rain soaked bangs out of his eyes; he scanned their location again, another expletive hanging on his lips. Kaoru had been too tired to try that desperate spell – and her aim had been _fucking terrible_. Instead of putting them somewhere on the other side of the valley, closest to where the reinforcements would be, they ended up too high and on one of the spines of the goddamn Dragon's Back. Nothing human lived this high – the air was too thin and too damn cold. They would have to cross Goblin territory to get back down and neither of them would survive that attempt. Which left him the option of going up until he could find a cave or something that resembled shelter and if they were _extremely lucky_; enough of something to catch on fire so that Kaoru wouldn't slip into an energy-coma and die on him.

She wasn't even shivering anymore.

"Hang on back there, missy. Just hang on."

Plunging ahead, he picked as carefully as he could, as fast as he dared through the jagged rocks and mud slush that kept trying to suck him down. There wasn't much hope that he wouldn't break a leg, but as long as he broke it after he found someplace worth hiding out he'd be okay with that. At least he'd have a chance of living long enough to bitch about it.

The rain tapered off sometime into the endless trudging up the dangerous rocky paths – which made it easier to see if nothing else. He kept getting stuck and was lucky he hadn't torn open a foot yet. At least he had slept in his boots. Kaoru's feet were bare. Kaoru's breath against the back of his neck was the only sign he had that she was still alive and it was starting to be fucking painful to keep her pressed where she was so he could monitor her breathing. Hunching his shoulders had stopped working several hundred meters ago. He didn't know what had him look up – instinct probably. He didn't have the same feel for demons or other creatures that weren't quite human the way Kaoru did, but he wasn't sure _how_ he had missed him up until that point.

Long strands of soaked red hair clung to a pale, angular face and a pair of fucking creepy yellow eyes stared unblinking at him. He was balanced on a rock twice as high as Sano was tall and it tapered to a point that no human could stand on in the pouring down rain. He was unarmed, but Sano didn't like his chances – even if he was a ridiculously looking small squirt, he was demon.

Those yellow eyes flickered over his shoulder and burned.

"You landed a little further out than I thought you would."

Sano scowled at him as he man dropped down, hardly seeming to notice the ten-something foot drop. His knees simply seemed to absorb the impact and he strolled forward; demons were built differently than humans – even humans who had burned away bits of their humanity with elemental beasts, which meant there was little predicting what his physical capabilities were. Baring his teeth, Sano shifted his back so that Kaoru was protected by one of the stones.

"Back the fuck off red."

A red brow arched, the effect slightly more intimidating than Sano really wanted to give it credit for. A sharp, knowing smile curled to show off pale fangs and Sano shivered.

"She'll die if you don't give her to me."

"The hell you say!"

There was no fucking way he was giving Kaoru to this demon, no way in _hell_. Problem was he had to figure out how to keep him from just taking her. The sword at his hip wasn't going to do much good if this little imp was faster than him and he couldn't risk putting her down just yet. Double fucking damn. Shrugging one shoulder in a move that was deceptively uncaring when compared to the hot, hungry look behind those damn creepy eyes, the demon continued to smile.

"You're right of course. I'd hardly waste the power needed to drag you _both_ out of the spell if I was going to let you kill her with _your_ stupidity – even if she was doing such a magnificent job on her own. However, I _will_ kill you if you do not give her to me."

"I'm not handing her over to anyone." She was his partner and gods help him – she'd fought worse for him – had just attempted near suicide to save them both. The little demon shrugged and smiled, showing off teeth that were bone white and a sharp pair of fangs.

"Pity."

Bloody pointed-ear was fast. Sano jerked around and skidded towards the high side of the mountain. What he didn't expect was for the red-head to simply crawl up the side of the cliff and slam a booted foot into the back of his skull, sending him sprawling. His face went straight into the mud as Kaoru was thrown from his back and a moment later booted feet shoved him further in – and then fucking _bounced_.

"I told you she was mine."

Sano worked to keep from choking on the mud as the demon continued to tap dance along his spinal cord. Finally, he hopped off. Sano's head was ringing as he dug himself out of the mud to watch the demon walk effortlessly over the _damn mud_ to bend over the boneless lump that was Kaoru. Struggling to his feet, he swayed at the ache in his head and hissed when the demon lifted her to his chest, something in the move almost tender. Stunned, it took him a moment to realize the power coming off him in waves was almost visible and his teeth started to chatter with more than the cold. Whatever he was, he was fucking strong but if he thought Sano wouldn't knock them _all_ off this mountain to protect Kaoru from his intentions, he was fucking insane.

"Put Kaoru down, _right now_."

"Come, human. My cabin in this way and she needs fire."

X

The labored breathing against Kenshin's chest was the only sign that she was still alive and he considered turning around hitting the human male again – it was only too apparent that the large human had very little self preservation and a skull thick enough to handle it. The door to his cabin snapped open at the force of his will and he walked in, ignoring the cursing behind him.

He had anticipated that she would be exhausted – even this close to his lair and she had been unable to reach him except for that one explosive expulsion of her power in the desperate attempt to save the human he had almost thrown off the mountain. She was lucky he had caught her in time and had been able to hold the pieces of her soul together. She had tapped too deep and pushed too hard – she needed more than just rest. Setting her on the pallet he had made in front of the fire, he ignored the human's continued muttering and curses as he set about stripping her of what little clothing she had left. She was covered in mud and he wiped carefully at her cheeks.

"Do not interfere."

Her skin was too white and blue in places. Curving his power towards the fire, he pulled on it, tugging the heat and flickering flames so they would curve over her body best. Kenshin was worried about her extremities – her core heat was almost completely dampened. Reaching forward he lifted both her hands before lower her left back to where he had let it settle the first time. Carefully he examined the white scars that marked the bones along her right wrist, as if a great bird had sunk its talons deep. He could feel the echo of her oath and the weakness of the bond. It had taken six months to find a way to attach himself to the web that connected woman to fire-beast – she was smart. Instead of strength and metal she had chosen spiders silk and the flexibleness that allowed it to give and room to grow.

Unfortunately for Kaoru, he had been alive longer than even these oaths and he had attached himself to the faintest of threads, working his way to the main lines. It had taken two years and to add to the challenge was the way she unconsciously fought him. He would have let her go if the heat of that memory hadn't tugged at him – the way her gaze had cut through his glamour and shields to the man below, the way she had resonated against his magic, _inside him_ like fire and bells. This one was _his_ regardless of her vows.

Lifting those bone-white lines to his mouth he scrapped his fang down her skin, testing the determination of woman and fire-beast. Both were exhausted, drained by the eclipse and the ridiculous human ideas of battle. Opening his soul just enough, he dragged his tongue down the same path of his tongue – _offering_. What was left of Kaoru's energy skated away from him, wary. Amused, he licked again, tasting her skin beneath the grim this time. He held perfectly still, her wrist wet and warm against his mouth as he felt the fire-beast shift along those delicate tendrils. He would kill this creature if he had too, but it would damage something inside Kaoru he wasn't completely certain he could replace. The hurt would be more than physical, she had been bonded to the creature for a long time, strengthening its place in her soul and letting it deep into her magic… no, killing it would hurt her.

But the fire-beast was too exhausted to fight him for long, to fight what he offered freely. He waited for the perfect moment – he struck, sinking his fangs into the soft veins of her wrist. Her body didn't move but felt her felt the shudder through what little magic she retained and the beast screamed in challenge before it wavered and then fell; fire and talons sinking into his own magic as he licked at the blood dripping down her wrist. Then the softness of the woman washed over him, helplessly following those lines the fire-beast had opened, drawn to his magic and the fire that had created him. Allowing himself one more delicate lick, he closed his eyes and tested what he had created between them. The fire-beast had let him in but it hadn't opened the heart of those tangled threads. It would be enough to keep her safe while she healed and it was ready to deepen once she understood and accepted what he was offering.

"_What did you do_?"

Oh yes. Her human friend. Sighing heavily, he reached for a blanket and tucked it around her body. Once he was certain she was as comfortable as he could make her – Kenshin could feel the pull of her magic against his as she soaked him in – he turned to face the man who had fought for her on the mountain. He looked no more impressive at his hearth than staggering around the mountain like a drunk but the expression behind his eye was protective. Grudgingly, he accepted that this human had a claim on his Kaoru.

"I saved her life." Standing he dusted his now-dry pants off and eyed the puddle on the floor the tall-human had made. "Do you have a name?"

Silence. Conjuring a towel he tossed it at the man and moved away from the fire, making room for him to sit next to the sleeping woman. It could be taken as a sign that he didn't care that he was near Kaoru or that he was unconcerned with an attempt to leave. That fact that it was both allowed him not to care which one the human choose.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I don't believe you answered mine." Kenshin allowed himself some amusement at the snarl that followed him as he set about preparing a meal. She would need meat and vegetables to provide the energy her body needed to repair itself – his fire and his magic would take care of her other needs.

Sano bit down on a curse as he watched the demon move about what he suspected to be the food preparation area. Inside the cabin he could see that the demon wasn't quite as small as he had thought on the mountain. There was strong muscle there that suggested he wasn't completely useless in a fight outside of magic and Sano didn't like the way he moved – the balance of his weight said _training_ louder than an openly worn weapon.

What Sano wanted was to find a way to incapacitate him so Kaoru could recover in peace. He would prefer to just kill him but he had no idea what the demon had done.

"Listen, demon – she's my _partner_."

Narrowed golden eyes glittered in his direction and then they turned away as he continued to bustle about, but Sano was stunned into silence. Was he… _jealous_? Frowning, he crossed his arms and tried not to inch closer to the fire. Kaoru needed the heat.

Watching the demon move, he went over everything he had learned about him in the past five minutes. The fact that this… _demon_, felt that Kaoru belonged to him in some way… No. She would have told him if there was a demon in her past. Which meant that he had to be…

"Are _you_ that _fucking cockroach_ whose been messing with her dreams?"

"I haven't been 'messing' with anything, as it is my right to make an offering."

"Like _hell_!"

"I can show you to one if you prefer." The demon answered as he settled a kettle of some kind over a second fire pit. "There are several with shall we say,_ interesting_ landscapes that I believe you will find unique."

Sano stood and glowered down the short redhead. "If you think for a single moment that I am going to allow you to touch _her in anyway_ demon, you are mistaken."

The demon actually paused where he was adding herbs to the boiling water and turned to pin him with the same, creepy yellow eyes as before. They burned with intent and something that Sano did not like one bit.

"She is mine."

"Bullshit. She's her own."

He'd found more comforting smiles on the faces of dead goblins.

"She is mine human and you had best remember that. Her beast has agreed to the validity of my claim." He turned back to the kettle and poured two mugs before walking back over. One he settled against the hearth and the other he offered to Sano.

"If you catch a cold you will give it to Kaoru and I cannot allow that."

Sano almost tossed it back into the demon's face but he was right. Kaoru was the important one. Scowling in frustration he carefully took a sip and hoped it wasn't poison. To his surprised, instead of the bitter healing herbs it tasted… he tried to find the words and took another sip.

"If it was disgusting how would I get her to drink it?"

The connotation that he didn't care if Sano drank horse piss was in his voice and Sano bared his teeth at him, wondering again how much effort it would take to just kill this asshole and be done with it. Finishing off the warm tea, he stared suspiciously at every move the demon made near Kaoru. So far he hadn't tried to touch her or do more than adjust the level of wood in the fire and putter around the rest of the room, adjusting little carved animals or touching the plants hanging from the ceiling.

The tea took away the last of his chill and he sat and he was relieved to find that he had stopped shivering. If he was getting warm, then Kaoru wasn't so far gone she had to take the heat from everything that moved and was able to let the natural flow of the fire move around her instead of simply absorbing it. That meant her beast couldn't have been damage too badly in whatever foolhardy attempt to save them that transportation spell had been. Deciding he needed to check on Kaoru himself, he blinked when his body responded but sluggishly. He tried to move his muscles but they refused to lock into place.

"The… fuck?" Talking was a struggle.

"Such language is really unnecessary. There are things I must attend to Kaoru with and I know you would object." The redhead shrugged unconcerned as Sano slid gracelessly to the side, his entire body warm and too-relaxed to be natural. "The sedative I used is mild. It will wear off sometime in the morning."

Sano tried to get his jaws to work enough to curse as the demon glided forward, fisting his hand in Sano's shirt and calmly lifting him enough to keep from knocking his head on the floor as he dragged him forward into a separate room. Sano's lids felt heavy and no matter how hard he struggled mentally he couldn't even twitch a finger. The demon made a faint noise and hefted him onto what felt like his sleeping mat. Heat of a second fire chased away any remaining chill as he sank into the warmth in his veins.

"See? I am not completely unkind. Remember that."

X

Kaoru felt the fire first. It crackled against her skin with sun kissed fingers, stroking along her battered magic like a friend. She leaned into without thinking, tilting her face so the colors danced behind her eye lids. Sano must have managed to find shelter and wood dry enough to burn – although she had no idea _how_. Drowsily, she refused to think on the events of yesterday and instead, she allowed herself to soak in the soft brush of magic and the fire against her skin… the momentary feeling of _safe_.

Then she opened her eyes.

Whatever sense of peace and reassurance she had disappeared under a wave of disbelief. While it was true that Sano occasionally got lucky, he was almost always worse than her and this wasn't a small, dingy cave. They were in a small cabin that seemed to have been built from wood and stone. It trapped heat and magic in a way that she had only felt in temples and she couldn't immediately see Sano. Panic gave her the strength to sit up and she glanced around the room – and saw _him_. He was watching her from several feet away, standing in front of a second fire stirring something that smelled like stew. Long, rich red hair was plaited down his spine nearly to his hips – showing off pointed ears and pale, pale skin. But it was the bright yellow gaze drinking her in that set off butterflies in her stomach and closed her throat with panic.

"Your friend is sleeping in the next room. There wasn't room enough for both of you in front of this fire. He is comfortable enough in front of the second."

Kaoru stared at him. His voice was mellow, rich and deep and clearly set the tones he would use to sooth a frightened animal. Swallowing her gut reaction to reach for the fire and to throw it at him, she instead made a conscious effort to reel in the magic drinking so greedily from the flames. A slight wrinkle appeared between the demons brows but he said nothing, turning back to whatever was in that pot.

Shivering once she wasn't directly connected to the fire, she curled her arms around her middle and watched him warily. This was the demon she had seen in the sand market two years ago. She was certain of it. Surely there weren't that many demons wandering around with _those eyes._ But… what was he doing here and why had Sano taken refuge with him?

"Are you hungry?"

She stared suspiciously at him. He hadn't turned to see her reaction but she could feel his amusement at the way her stomach had responded to the suggestion of food. Checking her magic to make sure it was shut tight, she took a deep breath.

"Who are you?"

"For you? I am Kenshin. You are Kaoru."

She stilled.

"You're tall friend shouted your name on the mountain."

"So you didn't grab that bit of information while trying to get into my dreams?" Her voice was accusing and it didn't seem to bother him. In fact, the smile that crossed his face was satisfied, as if she had risen to some unknown challenge.

"The purpose of those dreams was neither to steal your name nor to hurt you, Kaoru." For the mocking smile curled along his mouth, his tone was surprisingly gentle. She frowned, not believing him.

"You're fire-beast is undamaged and I know only what you have allowed me."

Something about the angle of his eyes made her nervous. "Why are we here?"

"That spell you tried was very foolish, Kaoru. Trying to transport for that distance in the shape you were already in…" he clucked his tongue. "Even with the goblins, you should not have attempted it. Thankfully, I was able to sense you. Otherwise you would have shattered yourself."

"Sano is important to me." She met his gaze without flinching. "I will not let him die."

His eyes flared hot and they burned as they tried to tug her in. She set her magical heels and refused to budge. Thoughtfully, he finally nodded.

"_Important_… but not a lover."

"That's none of your business!"

He just gave her another one of those smiles and filled a flat metal plate full of the thick stew before brining it over, his intentions clear. She took it gingerly, expecting it to be hot but while there was steam coming from the top of the meal, the metal was cool to the touch. The display suggested more control than power but there was something about him that told her he was being careful not to show just how deep his vein of power ran. Not for the first time was she frustrated by her lack of knowledge of demons.

"Eat."

She gave him a suspicious glance and he smiled. "I will feed the great behemoth a meal when he wakes. But not if you do not eat your share now."

"I don't think I like you."

"I enjoy a challenge." He turned away, letting her eat in peace – forcing seconds on her when she had finished the first. He didn't ask, just claimed her plate and brought it back with a look. Glaring, she had complied because she was hungry and it was good. Really good. She had almost asked what he had used to make it but had decided not to. There was a smug look that said he knew she liked it and it pleased him. Her expression turned mulish when he brought over a mug of some sort of steaming drink.

"It will help you sleep."

"I need to see Sano."

"In the morning. My word will have to suffice."

"I assure you," Kaoru said tightly, "it does not."

He squatted down in front of her, close enough that she could smell the lingering spices from dinner on his skin. She was surprised to find that she had to work to keep from staring at his hair and the way the fire colored it.

"You almost shattered yourself today – you refuse to pull in the magic stored in this room for the single purpose of aiding you. You will rest, Kaoru. You may argue with me when you can perform a simple spell without fainting."

She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth but his body shifted, a warning. So instead of arguing him about her ability to use fire, she picked the argument she had already established. Because she was not doing anything until she knew Sano was alive and well. Anything.

"I want to see him."

He sighed heavily and snapped his fingers. This time there was nothing subtle about the power he used. There was shifting, a sort of repression gone and suddenly the room vibrated with the sound of Sano's snores. A pained expression crossed Kenshin's face.

"He is dreadful."

Relief made her dizzy. Sano only snored like that when he was comfortable and deeply asleep – both things he would never be with this demon if there wasn't a reason. Kenshin was watching her with that pained amusement and she finally reached for the mug. She tried not to notice the way her fingers tingled when they brushed his. She glared down into the dark liquid.

"I hate tea."

"Unsurprising, considering humans will grind up almost anything for it. You will like this one."

She frowned at him and decided not to comment at that knowing expression behind his eyes. Eyes still focused intently on her, he moved his hand in a motion she didn't recognize, muffling the sounds of Sano sleeping again. Careful of the hot liquid, she took a delicate sip. Sunshine blossomed on her tongue and she blinked in surprise.

He smiled again, standing easily. "Finish the mug."

She wondered if hurling it at his back counted. Instead she took slow, careful sips until it was gone and set it on the floor. Reaching down, she rubbed her fingers along her shirt and then frowned, staring down at how clean it was and she flushed bright red.

"You changed my clothes!"

"You had been dropped in the mud at _least_ once and it appeared you had chosen to dive headfirst into a pile of it. I thought you would appreciate being clean when you woke. If it makes you feel better, I used a spell."

"No it does not!"

He laughed and she _really_ considered throwing the mug at him. Huffing, she stared at the flames blinking when she felt the first tendril of her magic reach out to tangle with the fire. Frowning she reached to pull it back it and found that she lacked the finesse. Brows tucking together, she felt several more threads connected to her fire-beast slowly begin to unwind from the coils she kept them in when she didn't trust her environment. Her fire-beast was sleeping, exhausted as she was but then…

She whipped around. "You drugged me."

"I told you the tea was to help you sleep," Kenshin corrected as he paced back over to pick up the mug.

She gaped at him as her magic sank completely into the flames. The heat from the tea was still there but it was spreading in time with the heat of her magic, warming her as it eased muscles tight with tension. "That's cheating!"

"Hardly, Kaoru. I told you exactly what you were drinking."

She glared at him. "You used mixed herbs with fire magic?"

"Yes. It's gentle enough that you won't wake with a hangover and it will allow your magic to work while you sleep." Kenshin smiled at her grumpy expression and knelt beside her, pressing his hand between her shoulder blades to hold her up as her muscles turned to liquid. "You need the magic, why are you fighting it?"

"_I don't trust you_."

"Fair enough," he agreed as he settled her back into the blankets, tucking them around her shoulder and chin as her eyes fluttered shut. "Get some rest, you can yell at me in the morning."

A sudden, golden rush of power washed over her skin and she gasped, unable to open her eyes to see _where_… Gentle fingers teased through her bang and she slid into sleep, skin and body absorbing the new power like a sponge.

[End Chapter One]

_**Please Comment**_


	2. Chapter 2

Here is chapter two! I hope everyone enjoys!

Ravyn

Disclaimer: I do not own else is just a product of my insanity.  


* * *

She woke to thunder and what could have been Sano – if he was bellowing at the top of his lungs from another room and maybe drunk. Groaning, she turned deeper into the ginger-scented blankets and tried to remember when she had felt this warm. _Days_. The sounds of wood crackling had her cracking on eye open to stare fuzzily at a cheerful fire while Sano continued to below in the background. Oh _damn_ – she had forgotten. Shaking her head to clear it of the remains of whatever the red-headed demon had put in her tea; she sat up just in time to see Sano go sprawling onto the floor. Kenshin was standing behind him, shaking his head, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

"I told you that was unnecessary and futile. The door was locked for a reason."

"You _mother fu-_… Kaoru!"

Kaoru blinked at the utter relief in his voice and frowned. It was too early and she didn't have enough caffeine in her bloodstream to translate everything that was going on in front. There was some obvious byplay between the men… but she was more interested in seeing Sano alive in one piece. Relief made her cranky. She could have used another hour of sleep before having to deal with _this_. Them.

"Sano, what are you _doing_?"

She didn't miss the slight smile that crossed Kenshin's mouth when she said her friend's name and she glared at him before turning attention back to Sano.

"This," he shoved a thumb at Kenshin. "_Demon_ kicked me in the head, kidnapped you, drugged me and then locked me in the damn room so _he could have his way with you_!"

Kenshin snorted and stepped over him. "I merely attended to her with my magic, _Sano_. As you can see, her color is already better."

"Where the hell did you sleep!"

The raised brow was answer enough for Kaoru to squeeze her eyes shut at the sudden pounding headache. Sano snarled and pushed himself up.

"Where _exactly_…"

"With her. I would think you would be more concerned with how close she was to burning herself out than whatever amusing notions of modesty you are clinging to." Kenshin said flatly. There was a pause and Kaoru reached up to press the heel of her hand to her forehead.

"There is no need to be embarrassed, Kaoru." Kenshin said. "The head of the fire would not have been enough to stabilize your magic last night."

Her eyes flew open and she spluttered. "I didn't need to use you as _a blanket_!"

He arched a brow. "Kaoru – even if you weren't pulling subconsciously at my magic to heal the deficit of your own, I would have needed to maintain the fire all night. This solved both of our problems quite nicely."

Kaoru fisted her hands in the blankets. "There is more than one way to keep a fire going."

"You needed a real fire, not the kind that comes from magic to heal your fire-beast – that requires wood, not magical flames." His eyes dragged down her body, even hidden in the too-big borrowed clothing she felt naked under that glance. "You do have some of your color back and with a decent meal I won't have to worry about you falling over again."

"Stop looking at her like you want to eat her."

"_Sano_!"

Amused yellow eyes moved along her face and he turned back into the kitchen area. Sano growled and tried to loom. Bracing her elbows on her thighs she planted her face in her palms and resisted the urge to put herself out of her misery. She still felt tired but to her chagrin she did feel better. She could feel the heat radiating internally from her fire-beast and her personal levels of magic were starting to balance. The rest of it was what made her uncomfortable. She could practically taste the demon magic that was brushing against her skin and her fire-beast was pulling against the heat of the fire as deeply as it was able.

"Oi, missy, you okay?"

Kaoru tilted her head just enough to peer at Sano over the ridge of her thumb and he winced a little, settling himself next to the blankets.

"Right," His eyes cut over to the demon apparently cheerfully putting together a meal. "He do anything…" he waved his hands.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Oh… that's… good."

Looking heavenward for patience, she finally straightened her spine and sighed.

"What really happened?"

"Just like I said. We came out of the teleportation – I _still_ have to yell at you for that – and we were on the damn mountain. Wanna explain that?"

"He caught the spell and pulled us."

"What?"

Kaoru sighed and shook her head. "Later. Go on."

She could practically feel the curiosity from the demon, even if he was deliberately keeping his back to them.

"Right. Anyway, couldn't go down – Goblins. So I figured we better try to find a cave. Ran into short and red over there," Sano jerked with his thumb to indicate which demon he was referring to. "We got into a scuffle."

"Sano!"

"What? I wasn't about to hand you over to some strange demon who claims that you're his! He was all very fang-y about it."

Kaoru froze. "_What_?"

The demon – Kenshin, he said his name was _Kenshin_ – apparently took that as a sign to join the conversation. He had put together a platter of bread and soft, white cheese, fruit and what appeared to be salted ham and a jug of water. He calmly stepped over Sano's legs and settled close enough to Kaoru's feet that she could feel the heat of him through the blankets. Apparently unconcerned by the expressions around him, he set about dividing the food onto plates.

"I told him you were mine."

Kaoru ignored the plate he settled onto her lap and the suspicious way Sano was eyeing the water jug. Instead she counted backwards from one hundred in her head to keep from exploding outwards. Sano was smart enough to shove a piece of cheese in his mouth, eyeing her from the corner of his eye while chewing. The red head either didn't have Sano's skill for self-preservation or was unconcerned about her temper. In fact, Kenshin was frowning over at her, golden eyes faintly amused.

"You need to eat."

Taking a deep, deep breath because she hated getting blood out of her hair, she leaned forward and glared at him. "Repeat that."

He arched a brow. "You need to eat."

"The part," the words were hard to force out through locked teeth, but she managed, "where you _think_ I am _yours_."

"Ah. Food first."

Sano reached over and fisted a hand in the back of her shirt. "Ignore him for now, Missy. If you eat first, you'll have more energy to roast him."

A faint, knowing smile curled the demons mouth and Kaoru stared furiously at him before biting into a piece of bread. Sano nodded his approval and Kenshin seemed unconcerned with either of their byplay. He quickly and neatly went through his food, keeping a close on eye on her as she worked through her own platter. The water tasted normal enough – clean and sweet and she wondered where he found it. Neither of them had touched their mugs until he had, which only seemed to amuse him.

"What do you know about demon mating rituals?"

Sano choked on the bread he was swallowing and Kaoru reached over and pounded him on the back. Kaoru cut a furious glare at him but the lazy, relaxed smile never wavered. He couldn't seriously…

"That had better have been a joke. Because if you tell me that Sano and I are now in your harem because we ate cheese and bread, I am going to shove this plate down your throat.

Mouth curling in genuine amusement, he reached over and grasped her fingers, lifting her palm and turning it so she could stare at the underside of her wrist. It took a moment for her to realize what he was suggesting and she stilled, cautiously testing the oath marks for any influence beyond her fire-beast. There was the usual brush of magic that always reminded her of feathers and talons that could turn to steal the moment she needed it… and there was something else. It felt like a heartbeat.

She was suddenly having a very hard time breathing.

"You created a blood-bind."

"Yes."

The sensation of a band wrapping around her lungs became considerably worse. The fact that to create such a bond he would have to gain the permission of her fire-beast… She squeezed her eyes shut. No wonder her magic was pulling on his and her beast felt comfortable enough to relax in his hearth. He had bound both of them as if she didn't have any defenses – which last night she hadn't. Gulping a little for air, she was startled out of her panic by a warm palm curving along her jaw.

"Breathe."

She jerked out of his hold and scooted back, eyes wide. "Don't… just don't."

"Missy?"

Sano had scooted over sometime during her little moment of panic and she leaned against his shoulder, seeking comfort. Something like temper flickered through those strangely yellow eyes and he let out a breath, eyes narrowing. Sano shifted just enough that his body was between her and the demons and she wrapped her fingers around his wrist, suddenly exhausted. Demon's… demons didn't make bargains like this. They rooted out fire-beasts and took what was left for their purposes. What was this?

"Why?"

Tilting his head so that his bangs shadowed his eyes, Kenshin was silent for several moments.

"Because when I saw you – I knew you."

And that was all she was apparently going to get out of him because he rolled to his feet, gathering the remains of the meal with him and disappearing back into his work area. Kaoru let herself absorb the feeling of Sano for a moment before pushing away from her friend. Dark brown eyes flickered in her direction – a silent question – she shook her no. She was fine for now. Physically. What she was was extremely confused. There was no reason for him to attach himself to the bond she had with her fire-beast. There was some soul magic she would be at risk for if he managed to wiggle his way too deep but the odds that her fire-beast would allow that sort of vulnerability was _very_ small. He had to know that. That was the entire purpose of the soul and magic bonds that were forged by children with elemental power – to keep them safe from accidental burn out and to external bonds with things like _demons_.

This was dangerous even if it was shallow and she didn't understand. Sano's expression didn't lose its curiosity. It was time to change the subject. Meeting Sano's gaze again, she took a steadying breath. Luckily, she had one at hand.

"Do you think anyone survived the goblins?"

Sano blew out a breath and shoved his hands through his hair, spiking the ends. "I dunno. There were a shit-load of goblins down there but it was that other thing that made me so damn nervous."

Kaoru tucked her brows together. "I had forgotten about that."

"You were a bit worried about saving our skin." He shrugged. "I hadn't seen anything like that before. Whatever it was, it clung to the darker shadows and even the goblins were avoiding it. But look… you're looking tired again. Get some sleep. I'll make sure short and red doesn't bother you, okay? I'll see if my whittling knife survived and stay right here."

Kaoru gave a weak smile. "Find my clothes?"

"See what I can do!"

Ignoring the way she could practically feel Kenshin watching, she curled back under the blankets and closed her eyes.

X

Kenshin ignored the way Sano was watching him as he settled back onto the pallet, book in hand. Kaoru was sleeping too soundly for him to wake her with his presence and he could already feel her magic reaching for his. She felt better today, her magic warmer against his skin. She would need to draw heavily on his for one more night, perhaps two if she continued to deny herself what he offered while she was waking. Her suspicion and unease were cute, but unnecessary. He would have to do something about that when she woke.

"Don't even think about doing something funny just because I can't see magic the way she can."

Kenshin arched a brow and then deliberately turned to his book. It really was such a pity that her ties to this human were so strong. He could already tell keeping him around and alive was going to be a constant source of a headache but he already knew his Kaoru would never allow less. She was stubborn when she chose to be and those eyes of her would probably get her anything she wanted if she used them right.

His eyes flickered to where she was sleeping and a smile curved his lips.

"I mean it. Missy might not be thinking too clearly right now, but I am."

"Is that so?"

Sano pointed his knife at him, eyes glittering. "I'd slit both our throats before I'd let you hurt her."

Kenshin sighed, setting the book down. "I am curious. Both of you have come to the same conclusion about me. What makes you think I plan on hurting her?"

Sano snorted. "Demon."

He shrugged. "I have no apologies for what I am. Since it saved her life, perhaps you should be a little more grateful."

"Yeah, that's why missy came as close to panic as I've ever seen her. Because demon is really code for teddy bear."

"I don't particularly care what conclusions you draw. But you will keep this in mind. She is mine, Sano. _Completely_. I will let no one interfere with that."

"She ain't going to like that, fuck,_ I_ don't like that. Why the hell did you pick her?"

Kenshin shrugged and smiled lazily. "That is between us."

Sano opened his mouth but Kaoru shifted under the covers, burying herself a little tighter in their warmth so that only one hand and the end of her braid was visible. Smirking, Kenshin leaned forward and tangled his fingers with hers. Another wiggling, sleepy motion of her body and she settled as he stroked her knuckles with his thumb. There were scars along the curves of bone and he wondered what it would take for her to tell him their stories. He could feel the human's muscles tensing and he sighed.

Such an unnecessary indulgence, this human man.

"Before you get into a huff – I am acting something like her personal power source while her magic stabilizes. Touching her is completely necessary."

Sano snapped his teeth in frustration. Commenting on the _type_ of touching would only amuse the damn demon. But even he had noticed how much better Kaoru had looked this morning and the fire-beast hadn't flinched at his touch.

Just… fuck.

"What's your name?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You have mine. Give me a name."

"Battousai."

Fucking creepy name to go with those damn creepy eyes.

He sure hoped Kaoru was up to dealing with this Battousai demon, because he wasn't sure killing them was going to make that much of a difference. At least it sounded like the blood-bind was first level only, if all he could do was offer her power. That meant Kaoru had not returned his offer and there was still a chance to break it. Turning back to his carving, he kept an eye on Battousai, who had picked his book back up and refused to let go of Kaoru's hand.

X

Kaoru studied the landscape of her dream and frowned. She shouldn't have had enough power to do this sort of memory recall. It was the campsite that had been attacked the previous night. Day? Blowing her bangs out of her eyes, she felt the comfortable weight of her fire-beast sitting on her shoulder – which suggested that her beast was behind this. Reaching up with one hand, she stroked its breast feathers for comfort, before moving along carefully through the action. It wasn't often her beast felt the need to interfere like this, but something had been nagging at the back of her mind. Sano's description of that dark space hadn't been enough.

Clearly her fire-beast felt the same if it was helping her look through her memories this closely.

Right. She had and Sano had been standing here. Twisting around carefully, she stared at the space she hadn't gotten a good look at. Leaning forward, she squinted at the shadows as the memory slowly moved. She could just make out the edges and as the memory started to turn, a squiggly line appeared just faintly. That could have been a tentacle…

At the very last corner of the memory a pair of dark red eyes gleamed before she was facing Sano again. Horror rolled through her gut and she jerked herself out of the memory, shooting straight up in the pallet, heart pounding. Eyes wide and unseeing, she didn't really register the heat that settled along her side and shoulders.

Oh no… _please no_…

"Kaoru?"

She snapped her head up. "Tentacles. Did it have tentacles?"

Sano blinked confused eyes at her. "What?"

"The thing you saw, attacking the men. Think Sano!"

He frowned but did as she asked, brows furring as he considered her words. Slowly he nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. I kept hearing the men screaming and one of them might have been dragged forward on his back so… it's possible."

She swore and dropped her head into hands. The heat along her body shifted and she squeaked when she was suddenly dragged backwards, blankets and all, and deposited into what was most definitely a lap. Going still, she swallowed as long fingers tangled in the hair at the back of her neck.

"Here I thought I wouldn't have to lecture you on the use of magic in your condition."

There was a bite in that tone and warm lips pressed against her ear. Heat flushed through her system and she jerked, attempting to escape. His arms refused to budge and she swallowed as he pressed her up against his chest.

"It wasn't my magic."

Problem one: Sano was being way too silent for her liking. She could move to glare at him, but it was clear that there had been a conversation while she was asleep and now she wasn't getting the expected explosion.

"Then why are you trembling?"

Problem two: he felt _wonderful_. Male body aside, his magic was hot enough to burn and it twisted around her in those honey-thick strands that clung to all the weak places in her shields. Fact was, even if the sun wasn't hidden behind the moon she would be drawn to the feel of his magic much less the easy way he had trapped her against him.

"Let go."

"No."

Taking a deep breath, she considered slapping at him. What she really wanted to do was melt up against him and _drink in_ what he was offering but she wasn't sure that wouldn't be considered encouragement – something she didn't want to give – and there was a much, much bigger problem.

Fine.

They'd do it his way.

"There is a _soul eater _on this damn mountain."

The muscles under her cheek tightened with sudden tension. To her relief he allowed her the wiggle room necessary to get off his lap and back onto the thick pillows she had been lying on. Lifting her eyes to his face, she almost wished she hadn't. Before his eyes had been a strange yellow-gold, but they had paled to sun-kissed wheat and they burned.

"You sure missy?" Sano's voice was tight with tension and she managed to look away from Kenshin to nod.

"Yes." She swallowed. "Something about that night kept bothering me so we went back and looked at it. It makes a sick kind of sense. The eclipse ends in three days and we've just been throwing bodies at it. It's probably been hiding itself under the goblin signatures, eating at any soldiers it can find and building itself the base of its gate."

"Shit."

She took another deep breath. "It's probably in one of the goblin caves and it's _probably_ using the goblins to protect itself if it's already drained them. It might've come through right in the middle of their nest, that's why we didn't detect it."

Sano tugged on his hair, "Which means we have to go through them to get to it. Just… fuck."

"I beg your pardon?" Kenshin's voice was mild but there was an edge like a blade.

Kaoru reluctantly turned her attention to the demon sprawled out next to her.

"You wish to go through empty-goblins and the remains of their nest to a soul eater with your magic in its current condition."

"I don't wish anything." Kaoru said flatly. She held her wrist to show the harsh white lines. "I _have_ to. It's part of my oaths as a fire-elemental. Soul eaters are vulnerable to fire. It's why they wait for eclipses to build the bridges from our world to theirs, to bring their families. Unfortunately, this one has had four days to build its power base."

"Don't forget the goblins." Sano snapped.

"And it appears to have taken control of the goblins." Kaoru agreed.

There was a shift in Kenshin and the lazy strokes of his magic became thick, wrapping around her body so suddenly that she gasped for air. It sank deep, pushing against barriers she had wrapped in place and she struggled to keep him out.

"Leave us."

To Kaoru's shock, she felt Sano move and she swallowed back her instinctive demand to make him stay. Kenshin moved forward and he wrapped her braid around his wrist, forcing her neck to arch. His lips were hot as they ghosted along the column of her throat, teeth lightly grazing.

"And you think you will just go and kill this thing without the sun to aid you."

His hand shifted to support her spine and she swallowed – both at his touch and the way he kept pressing down on her magic. He was… "I have no choice."

Hot and wet – his tongue flicked against her skin and her eyes squeezed shut. The hand at her spine slid down to the curve of her butt, lingering before he squeezed and lifted her so that she was sprawled across the length of his lap, back flat against the floor as he stared down at her as she took quick, shallow breaths.

"You think I will allow this?"

She jerked her chin up, set her magic heels and shoved at the magic binding them. It stopped, waiting and his eyes glimmered at her. Why was he touching her like this?

"I do not need your permission to uphold my oaths, demon. And stop touching me."

He leaned down, hair sliding against her cheek. "You are mine."

She lifted her wrist, shoving it in front of him. "What does this mean to you?"

He blinked, clearly surprised by her choice of words. She glared up at him, ignoring the way his magic continued to circle her – like one of the fish with the big teeth.

"This is a physical representation of my oaths. This is _why_ I am what I am. You decided to mark it without my permission and whether you realize it or not, that means you accepted what I am. Fire elementals were created to kill soul eaters the way water elementals were created to kill desert dragons, the way air elementals battles drakes. Do not test me on this."

He lifted his hand, scrapping his calloused fingers down her palm and then traced the white lines; lingering at the point his magic bound her. Her heart started to hammer in her ears and he lifted his eyes to her face, watching her from beneath his lashes as he pulled her wrist to the warmth of his mouth. Sharp fangs grazed along her skin and she inhaled deeply, shivering at the quick rasp of his tongue. If she hadn't tested the bonds herself she would have sworn he had done more than make a simple offering. It… stung to know she was physically _this_ attracted to a demon who she _knew_ had no scruples and yet here she was, trying not to react to the brush of his tongue.

He licked again, just to watch the way her pupils widened until the blue was little more than a thin ring of color. Pressing his lips to the soft skin, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before speaking.

"Your soul belongs to _me_. I will be displeased if you allow this… _creature_ to harm it."

She opened her mouth to reply – her soul belonged to her _oaths_ and her _beast_ – but he leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. She jerked a little in surprise at the first stroke of his tongue against hers and barely held back a moan when he did it again. His kiss was all possession and fire and wonderful. The exploration was lazy for all the heat in his touch. She was vaguely aware of his magic settling where she had stopped it, a thick barrier just beneath her skin that warmed her more fully than even the fire. When he finally pulled back she was breathing hard and she couldn't quite find the words to yell at him.

Kenshin could read the confusion in her eyes. The way she had reacted to his touch and his magic was all the remaining proof he had needed. He had been right to latch onto what he could that day in the desert… _not yet mate_, but the possibility was there. Lingering in the shadows behind her eyes and the way she responded to him. The way she settled him, this was more than the partnership he had original suspected might lie between them and whatever lingering doubts that this one _belonged to him_ in every way, settled. Her magic called, his answered. She was his. Reaching out, he traced the line of her jaw and opened his mouth to speak when a fist hammered on the front door.

"You two better be done it's started to rain again!"

"We will finish this _conversation_ later, then." Kenshin promised.

Kaoru swallowed as he stood and headed to a place she couldn't see, a door snapping open. Sano stomped in, hair wet and spiking in a million different directions, his expression cranky.

"We've got a problem. The goblins are moving up along the southern ridge. I think they're looking for you."

"They will have difficulty finding her." Kenshin's voice was back and she turned to see that he was back in the kitchen. Where had he gone and why… she reached up to rub her eyes.

"What makes you think that, Battousai?"

Kaoru jerked at the sound of Kenshin's other name, eyes widening. Amused honey-yellow eyes met hers. Challenge.

Surely she had heard wrong?

"This is my territory. Even goblins will find it difficult to track her to this cottage. The soul eater will be in no hurry to challenge me. Not until the end of the eclipse when it believes it will have the advantage of numbers."

Battousai… he was… she sucked in a breath and shoved herself to her feet, any lingering confusion disappearing under a wave of anger. That was impossible. Battousai had scars. She remembered. Her fire-beast snapped in the fire and then disappeared, reappearing in her soul-pocket. Fists clenching, she stared down the redhead.

"Your name is _Battousai_?"

"It is a nickname," he returned with an amused smile. "I gave you my real name, Kaoru."

She dug her nails into her palms. He wasn't just a demon! He was a demon that she actually _knew the name of_ and that bothered her. Where had she heard it? It had to be from the Temple and the Temple did not concern itself with small, inferior demons.

"This was all some kind of game to you, isn't it?"

The amusement left his face. "No."

"What? You were just going to show up and save us and then help us with the soul eater? Then what?" She ground her teeth together. Was she was supposed to lead him back to where he could do the most damage, right in the heart of a City to the Temple? She had almost believed him. _For that one second_…

He paced forward, eyes narrowed into slits. "To be sure I plan on going with you to face your little problem, Kaoru. You will need me and I will not give it what is mine. But if you think for a single moment that this has anything to do with you and your precious mage temple… you are mistaken."

She flinched at his accurate reading of her.

"Liar."

He hissed, the sound like water hitting hot stone. She held her ground as he bared his teeth.

"I have never lied to you."

She shoved her uncertainty aside and glared right back.

"Then _what is this_? Demons do not _hunt_ because they simply met someone's gaze on a crowded street!"

He backed her into a wall, slamming his hands on either side of her face, leaning close.

"Because when you looked at me you _saw_ – not the demon, but _underneath_. And I saw _you_. The brightness of your soul and the possibilities between us; this is not a hunt, Kaoru, because I have already decided to keep you. You are _mine_."

She lifted her chin. She would _not_ be intimidated by him. "You cannot tell me that you decided all this with one look or that I am expected to agree."

"That is all any of my kind _needs_."

"I don't believe you."

Leaning forward, he caught her gaze and _dared _her. "Open up."

She jerked back. "What?"

The edges of his mouth curled, mocking and somehow triumphant "Open to me completely and find _out_."

Her brows shot up and he pressed a finger to her lips before she could comment. Something hot curled through his eyes. "I will not do more than touch and by my oath and magic; I will leave you exactly as you are now."

If he broke his word it would shatter him. _Trap_. This had to be some sort of trap… but if he was going to go with them she had to know. But why was he offering this? Surely he didn't expect her to believe him and… soul magic was dangerous…

He smiled, fangs glittering in the firelight. "Unless you're afraid I am right."

She stared up at him, meeting his gaze.

Sano said nothing.

Shutting her eyes, she threw herself inward until she felt the presence of her fire-beast. The world behind her eyelids was a terrain of mostly darkness and the careful, twisted webs she had created to protect herself from exactly what she was letting this demon do. She swallowed and opened herself up just a crack, letting him hover on the edges of her soul. For a long while, nothing happened. Then she felt him move.

It felt like she was drowning in fire and light. He brushed against her as lightly as he promised and it felt like heaven. It wrapped around her core and her magic, warming her and leaving her with the feeling of _right_ and for just a moment she hovered – wrapped up in him and his magic. _Safe_. Then he pulled back, tugged each individual strand of his soul that had wound around her away. She felt empty and chilled in a way that not even the lack of sun had ever managed.

Hot lips pressed under her ear. "Mine."

* * *

_**Please Comment**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three! I didn't expect this chapter to take this long, but there were a few things I just hated that I couldn't put my finger on. Finally got them figured out so hopefully the next chapter will get wrapped up smoothly and up. For sure it won't take as long as this one!

Big Thanks do damewren for helping me get this thing cleaned up plot wise. Much love! Big thanks to the usual: J.D., Some_scribbles and vashka!

Ravyn

Warning: Lime!

* * *

She was_ attracted _to a _demon_.

Rolling over, she pressed her face into the pillows and groaned out loud. She had walked right into that one. She wanted to be angry at Kenshin but it was difficult to be pissed at him when she was so mad at herself. He had shown her just how good he felt and the way having him close eased her soul in ways not even the bonding with her fire-beast had managed. Then he had carefully untangled himself as he _promised_ – leaving her insides empty and cold in ways she hadn't been since she was a _child_.

_Bastard_.

She had joined her Order at thirteen because she had nothing left except her magic. Nothing to fall back on if she failed and she had always promised herself she would never put herself into such a vulnerable of a position again. Now she was half-starved for magic and she _craved_ the way a demon felt. Vulnerable was just the surface problem.

She hadn't argued when Kenshin and Sano had left to go and scout out the goblins, to see if they could find any physical sign of the soul eater. She had desperately needed time to herself. Needed to evaluate. Letting out a long breath, she tilted her wrist to stare at the bond-markings.

Elemental-beasts had been bonded originally to help extend a mage's abilities to fight against demons and other creatures that crawled through and along the veils separating the layers of the worlds. It hadn't been until the Great War that those bonds had been extended to children as a means to protect them from themselves, the danger of over-extending. Extended lifetimes had originally been considered a down-side of the spells and mage power, but now it was used as leverage to guarantee a parents cooperation. Who didn't wish for their child to live forever?

But mostly, elemental bonding was used as protection. With one bond already in place, it was difficult for a young mage to create their own bargain to gain power. Everything she had been taught said that in order for a demon to make a bond they either had to coerce the connection or kill the elemental beast. Killing it destroyed something inside the mage so they never quite had the same potential… and a bond was no guarantee that you couldn't be used.

Less than thirty seconds with Kenshin wrapped around her soul and she was questioning all the teachings of the Temple – considering the real reason behind bonding children's souls to the elements. Not all children would be at risk for burning out – it took desperation or an adult's complete control to drain yourself so low. At her age, she had only managed it once and that had been days ago during an eclipse and a goblin/soul eater attack. The idea that such bindings could be for _control_ instead of protection….

There was more to what Kenshin was offering than he was telling her. The moment of weightless, cocooned freedom had been more than just the meshing of soul magic. All her life she had felt the weight of the temple pressing down on the bonds she had formed and the oaths she had taken. She had forgotten how heavy they were…

_Thirty seconds_ and she felt sick from more than magical exhaustion. What Kenshin had done, what he had asked of her wasn't impossible but it was only the closeness of her bond with her beast that had allowed even the asking. Which just raised more questions about the original purpose of the bonds… She _knew_ what it meant that her beast had allowed even the contact that it had with Kenshin. But why? This nonsense about knowing her with just a glance had to be disguising more. She was more likely to believe that he had stalked her for two years – which he had – but she had been careful and he couldn't have pulled that much from her even in dreams. No matter what he said he didn't _know_ her.

Reaching down, she tugged the covers over her head, wanting to hide for just a little while. Sleep until the tightness in her chest eased and the cravings to crawl back into the fire and arms of a demon faded. She _wanted_ to bond with him. She felt restless and edgy and it didn't seem to matter in the least to her magic what Kenshin was. Clenching her teeth she let out a long, hissing breath. If she allowed herself to be distracted… to _consider_ _this_… well, she had more another problem.

She couldn't worry about Kenshin or her soul or the Temple while there was soul eater building a power base on the mountain. Once the eclipse ended, it would take whatever family it managed to bring over into the depths of the mountains to continue to spawn. If she didn't kill it now, the problem would move from a single issue into an infestation.

It had been a long time since her apprenticeship. She hadn't witnessed the battle that had killed her master, just seen the remains of it. Soul eater tentacles left long, dark gouges in its victims and in the earth as it moved. Easy enough to follow, but the problem was finding where it was hiding. They tended to use the same path over and over; fitting to the grooves like well worn puzzle pieces and anywhere along those tracks it could be staked out, waiting. Unlike other creatures, feeding tended to lend it strength not weaken it. It was best to catch them between meals but with so many goblins and the remains of her unit vulnerable…

The idea of having Kenshin around was unsurprisingly improving. Wincing, she rubbed her face, working to stall the headache she could feel building behind her eyes. Her master was turning over in his grave right now. But as far she knew, not even demons went into layers claimed with soul eaters. She would have to ask.

Breathing in deeply, she wrinkled her nose. She _smelled_. Like day old goblin. How had either man not noticed this? How had Kenshin _kissed_ her? Well, she didn't feel too guilty about that, it was entirely his fault if he tasted day old goblin. Shuddering, she lunged out of the blankets and rubbed her hands along her arms. Okay… so Kenshin had to have a bathing chamber around here and more clothing. He said this was his territory so odds were he stayed here more often than not…

She stilled, fingers curling around her forearms. _Territory_. This was… but, that didn't make sense. Most demons just passed through this layer, preferring to live in their hells. Shaking her head to clear it, she padded into the kitchen and peaked into an open door. That was obviously where Sano was staying and clearly not attached to a bathing chamber. Cursing a little, she turned around and was met with a second door. Bouncing a little on her toes, she studied it. There weren't signs of more than a basic locking spell… Hesitantly, she reached out and touched a fingertip to the wood.

Something hot and jagged brushed against her skin; just as suddenly cooled and soothed the small hurt. The sound of a lock clicking open echoed strangely in her ears. Swallowing, she braced herself before pushing it open. Right then, she'd face an entire hoard of goblins for a bath, much less the bedroom of a demon.

The room was simple and clean. A rather comfortable looking bed was tucked into a corner. Two of the four walls were lined with bookshelves and the other two were taken up by a matching set of doors and a fireplace. As she finally stepped carefully inside the fireplace spurted to life, giving her enough light to see by. Since he obviously hadn't minded her borrowing his clothes the first time he wouldn't mind a second time. And if he did then well, she'd deal with that then.

Riffling through his drawers, she came up with another soft shirt and a pair of pants that looked like they could be rolled up and would fit reasonably enough. Opening the second door, she smiled to herself when she realized that he not only had a large, claw footed bathing tub but that someone had rigged a showerhead. She made sure the door was shut, stripped down and quickly turned on the shower. To her surprise, hot water gushed out immediately and she allowed herself to absorb the feeling of it before grabbing the bar of soap and scrubbing herself down. She didn't know how long she had, but there was no way she was going to get caught in the shower when Sano and Kenshin returned.

She had just shut the bedroom door and headed to the fire, she couldn't use magic to dry her hair yet, when the front door flew open. Sano was swearing colorfully as he limped inside and Kenshin followed. Both were fairly splattered in what looked and smelled like goblin guts.

Kenshin had a sword strapped to his side she hadn't seen before and the harsh line of his jaw was… daunting. The picture he made _fit_ somehow and she looked away, feeling off-balance. Sano made it several feet inside before sinking to the floor and pulling at his boot laces but Kenshin had stopped after shutting the door, eyes warming from pale yellow ice to something softer as he watched her.

"Find everything you needed?"

She ignored him, not knowing how to respond, eyes flickering to Sano. "What happened?"

"We ran into a few goblins."

Moving forward, she squatted down and helped Sano with his laces. "Do you have any first aid supplies?"

She directed her question to the air and she could feel Kenshin watching her as she worked but a moment later a satchel was set down in front of her. Fingers tugged through her damp hair and there was a feeling like lightening running down her spine. She twisted around to peer up at him and he smiled before walking away, towards his room – leaving her hair dry.

Not certain how to take the rolling of butterflies in her stomach, she dug through the kit and came out with bandages and ointment. "I hope you've washed your feet recently."

"You really wanna talk about my feet?"

"I want to find a scourging spell."

He snorted and then winced when she started wrapping the sprain.

"You're not going down there without me again."

Sano looked tense, eyes flickering to the room that had the sound of running water. "He was good. Really good."

"His name is Battousai," Kaoru reminded him as she continued to wrap the foot in front of her tightly. "It's for a _reason_ he was given that title."

"Yeah… look, I think we've got a shot of getting out of here alive if we let him help."

Kaoru blinked up at him and poked his sore foot hard enough that he yelped. "I didn't think he was 'letting' us do anything and I for sure thought you'd be more upset about it. He seems pretty determined to have his way."

Why _hadn't_ Sano pitched another fit?

Sano grinned, a wide boyish smile that she recognized too well. "Yeah, well, he ain't never had to deal with you before, either."

Kaoru sat back on her heels. "He fights dirty."

"So do you."

"I appreciate the confidence but…" she bit her lip and shook her head, making a familiar motion with her hand. _Weakness_.

Sano frowned, tangling his fingers through his damp hair and them grimacing. "Wonder if I can get in line for a shower."

"Better give that ointment some time to sink in first, although you reek like a goblin den."

"That's because I was wading through 'em. They've started decomposing. We looked for those tracks you described, didn't find a damn one. "

Kaoru sighed, reaching up to rub her face, "Which means we have to go back out there and soon. If the goblins are losing their body mass then the soul eater will be through draining them of soul energy and starting to feel… hungry."

Sano grimaced. "I just knew you were going to say that."

Leaning back, she cut her eyes to the bedroom. She couldn't hear anything but that didn't mean squat. Taking a breath, she moved her hand in the motion for _opinion_. Sano watched her for several moments before his fingers curled into a symbol she had not expected.

_Unsure_.

Brows tucking together, she studied his face. She didn't know how she felt that they were both confused on how to deal with the redheaded demon. She didn't pursue it. Instead, she lowered her eyes to Sano's swollen foot and wondered if she could get away with the runes that would pull the heat from the bruised ligaments to speed the healing.

"What are you thinking?" Kenshin's voice was lacking any bite but there was a _note_ in his tone that suggested he might know what she was considering. Kaoru almost flinched. She didn't like the idea that he might be getting to know her well enough to anticipate her plans.

"Kaoru wants to go scout out the soul eater herself." Sano grunted as he stretched his toes.

She lifted her chin and turned but to her surprised instead of stubborn and irritated there was something else shaping the line of his jaw, something that she couldn't name. Arching a brow down at her, he tilted his head.

"Do you?"

"I do."

"Sano. There is a shower in your room."

"There wasn't one there this morning!"

When he spoke, Kenshin's tone was pleasant even if he never took his eyes from hers. "There is now."

Sano snapped his teeth and stood and hobbled out of the room.

Kaoru was trying not to panic. If he was reorganizing the household with magic, then it was possible he was playing with layers. Her stomach knotted at the idea of power it took to do that. She watched him closely, chewing on her bottom lip even as settled next to her. He smelled like ginger, embers and _clean_.

"You were considering using magic."

His question surprised her and she jerked out of her thoughts. "What?"

He nodded toward Sano. "His ankle will heal fine on its own."

She hoped her bafflement wasn't as clear on her face as it felt like it was. He lifted his hand and it took a supreme effort of will to keep from leaning into his palm as he brushed the pads of his fingers along her cheekbone. The heat of his skin felt good and magic sparked where they touched.

"You flush right here when you feel guilty."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not feeling guilty about helping a friend."

"What will you find that we could not?" It took a moment to realize he had changed the subject. There was no scorn in his tone, just open curiosity. Eyes wary, she bit her lip for a moment before sighing. Soul eaters were more important than her issues.

"I don't know how demon magic works," she shook her head when he opened his mouth, sitting back – away from his touch. "I don't want to know right now _either_. But what you need to know about what I do is that fire-beasts are soul eater's natural predators. We can sense them."

"How did you not sense it before?"

She frowned at him. "Besides the exhaustion the last battle hadn't…"

He just watched her from honey-yellow eyes so she swallowed her pride and continued.

"Hadn't left me with a lot of power left and I wasn't thinking. So it slipped through the cracks." She took another deep breath and pushed on. "That will not be a problem now."

He watched her for another long moment before nodding. "Alright."

She blinked at him. "Alright? No arguing?"

"A few hours will not make a difference; you're going to nap again before we go and eat. And there will be none of this nonsense of not pulling power from me to continue to heal yourself, so I will be able to monitor your magic. But this is something you need. If you merely wanted to go out in this condition, I would not allow it."

"_When_ are you going to get it into your head that you don't get to _allow_ _me_ anything?"

"You are still uneasy." He sighed. "I do not understand why you continue to seem distrustful of my actions, Kaoru."

She didn't understand herself either. He wasn't the first creature of fire she had been drawn to outside of her fire-beast. So why was this one tugging at a heat in her belly and gently breaking down her resistance?

"I don't understand _your_ reasoning." Her gaze met his. "I've been taking care of myself for a long time, Kenshin. I don't need or want a dictator in my life."

"Ah."

She leaned back, suddenly aware of how close they were. "What?"

"I forget just how young your race is…" he reached out and tangled his fingers in her hair. "Just how _stubborn_…"

She bristled but he cut her off before she could snap at him.

"What do you know of demons, _my_ people, Kaoru?"

She wondered how he always managed to change the conversation. "Enough."

He arched a brow and tugged lightly at her hair, the motion more chiding than painful. "Perhaps I should guess then?"

At her silence he shrugged.

"Your temple tells you that demons are evil. Perhaps by your standards we are, but your race is young yet and has not learned the lesson that time has taught us. Whether that makes us better or worse than you is a debate for the scholars of both sides. But whatever everything boils down to is one thing: power. Who has it and who does not. That is a lesson that has been taught time and time again by countless civilizations. As a race, you have very little in the scheme of things. So you learned how to make bargains, strengthening your own power and increasing the chances of survival. Except, even with these new abilities, you are still bound to this layer – forced to fight against the creatures that some consider of lesser being that crawl through mindlessly to destroy everything you have worked for."

Kenshin paused, his gaze going distant for a moment.

"But our race is older, our magic richer than even you can guess and we have no desire for bargains. We have no _need_ to bargain with your kind, at least not in the way that you would understand. And that I believe is the crux of the problem – a lack of understanding and common greed for what one does not have."

She was uncomfortable with how close his words were to her earlier thoughts. The expression behind his eyes made her nervous. "What does this have to do with me?"

"You want me."

She bit her tongue to keep the automatic denial from springing from her lips. It wouldn't do any good anyway – if she had felt so much of him, then he had felt her as well during their soul touch. Besides, she did want him – she just couldn't put her finger on _why_. She knew the feel of him, the taste of his magic but _him_ – the man who made up that soul… she shouldn't be this crazy. She was never this impulsive when it came to her heart. He tilted his head and she edged away from him as hot sparks blended with the gold ring around his pupil. One edge of his mouth curved.

"What is between us frightens you." His eyes were warm bronze. "Perhaps your confusion is partly my fault. I asked Sano if he knew anything about demon mating rituals. Perhaps I should have asked you."

Kaoru curled her fingers. "What?"

"Humans search for physical matches. Demon's do not."

She frowned at him. "Is that supposed to clarify your intentions?"

Amusement warmed his eyes. "Humans use sex and chemistry to find their life-mates. You build emotional attachments through those things and you use whatever your personal belief system is as a measuring weight to determine the likelihood that your match will last. Because your average lifespan is so short, this is an acceptable metrics. If your elemental beast were free it would search for a mate with more practical intentions. If she found a mate, he would a hunt for her; he would protect her; he would stay with her through the long years of their life – even past the point of hatchlings. That is the way of the wild."

Kaoru grudgingly nodded. That was… a rather bare-bones way of looking at things, but it wasn't necessarily wrong.

"Demons have a third way of searching for a partner. We are near immortal – true immortals are something else entirely – and magic shapes us in the way your religion shapes you. It is this foundation that we build off of. We are an old people and we will continue to grow older – beliefs and chemistry will change through those years."

"I'm not certain I understand what you are saying."

"_Demons_ wait for magic to match them, Kaoru. A match is always a partnership but the bond of lovers can shift as the couple grows and develops – it depends on the bond. Keeping this relationship open and healthy is the most important relationship a demon has, regardless of how it changes through the years."

She bit her lip, uncertain how to take that information. There was an assumption there that she would live to match his life… but wasn't that just another effect of a bond? She already would exceed her non-mage friends by several lifetimes. But he was suggesting that she wouldn't do it alone now.

"I want you."

The simplicity of that statement caught her off guard. Feeling her hesitation, he reached out and curled his hand around her wrist – the hand scared by her oaths. Bringing her palm to his mouth, he scraped his teeth down her skin, tongue flickering out so that her breath caught.

"You saw me. That is something I will never forget and I will not let this go."

Stubbornly, she slowly shook her head. "I don't _know_ you. That's important."

He exhaled, hot breath ghosted across moist skin. "Kaoru, you have felt me wrapped in your soul. If I was what you feared, you would have felt it then. When will you listen to your magic instead of your head? Does your magic tell you I am evil?"

"No."

He kissed her palm again and then brought her fingers to his cheek, holding them there against his skin.

"Everything else – the small, personal quirks and the things I hold dear will come. But the parts that matter, the parts that are strong enough to shape a soul… those you have felt and touched. What more could any human male offer you?"

She chewed on her lower lip and allowed herself to look at him. He really was too beautiful for his own good. She just wished he wasn't so right about this. Magic – her magic – had never worked this way before and she felt out of her depth.

"I… the idea that _this_…" she shook her head. "It's too fast and... I…" '_I just don't know how to handle something like this.'_

His brows tucked together for a moment before his expression smoothed. "I have waited my whole life for my magic to find something like you, Kaoru. I will find a way to wait as long as you need."

She pressed her lips together for a moment. "You believe that this… this is just a matter of time?"

His smile was slow coming but it made her stomach jump. "I have felt your soul call for mine."

Before she could articulate a response to that, he leaned forward and pressed his mouth against his, warm and coaxing. When he finally pulled away, she had allowed herself to lean into his chest, fingers tangled in his hair.

"You are already mine, Kaoru – but I will wait for you to know it."

X

"The path will take an abrupt right turn in another two hundred meters. I don't sense goblin activity but if they are soul-less, they are possible to miss."

The rains had let up briefly before returning to their endless assault of drizzle and torrents in no discernible pattern. With the sun hidden behind the heavy clouds, it was impossible to tell the thickness of color of the overcast and so there was no warning to the weathers moods. It would have been miserable if not for the power that was keeping her warm – flowing just under her skin, waiting for her to pull it deeper at her call. Her fire-beast was hyper aware of the power coiled around her and the faint, echoing traces of soul eater that she could barely feel.

To Kaoru's surprise, Kenshin had done exactly as he promised. Fed her, forced her to nap and had somehow located cloaks and heavy boots that would work to keep both her and Sano dry. The cloth was heavy and dark, oil-slicked in some fashion she had never seen before. Kenshin must have read the curiosity in her face but said nothing other than his distracting half-smile that sat curled at the corner of his mouth. There hadn't been mention of their previous conversation and somehow Sano hadn't picked up on her disgruntled tension while pestering her for any and all information that he could get on the soul eater. While Kaoru had quite a bit of theory about the situation, until she had seen things herself there was just no way to judge how the soul eater would react or what power it had managed for itself.

And if Kenshin was right about the turn… it would be a perfect place to set up an ambush. At least he hadn't come out and said it. Kenshin seemed to be willing to watch them work, occasionally commenting like now about the location and what he could sense. She was discovering part of his ability to read her was apparently due to an extremely well developed aura-sensing ability, although he had called it something else. Forcefully blowing her bangs out of her eyes, she motioned with her hand for Sano to go first. He nodded. He would have insisted anyway. One fight avoided, at least.

Sano lifted a hand a few meters later and she paused, crouching next to him, letting him act as a wind block. Squinting down at the canyon walls she could just make out through the rain, she bit back a curse. She could barely see the smudges of what might have been torches. Not for the first time did she wish that she had a far-seeing glass.

"There are two dozen men."

She twisted a little, ignoring the drops of water running down her face from the sudden movement. Kenshin didn't seem overly bothered by the rain, the hood of his own cloak loose around his face. She wished she knew how he did that – even demon eyes couldn't _see_ that well in the gloom; the best master at aura-sending didn't come near his range.

"Men?"

"What is left of them."

Well, at least they knew where to find the bodies once this was over. Blowing out a breath, she closed her eyes, thinking. Two dozen was roughly half the force that had been left during the night. They had lost another dozen in earlier battles during the first stages of the eclipse. Assuming the soul eater had gotten his hands on whatever magic lingered in those bodies…

She didn't have any doubts she could kill the soul eater, if she could find it. It's vulnerability to file was extreme and with Kenshin so willing to share… She would not share the same fate as her dead Master. No, the biggest problem was going to be getting to the soul eater. They would have to go through the goblins and what was left of their unit – she would have to do it without drawing Kenshin so deep she could find herself once this was over. If she was going to accept this… bond with him, then she was going to do it as a conscious decision, not as a way to save her life.

She really never could do anything the easy way.

"What's your plan?"

He was so close that she could feel the heat of him through the rain and two layers of gear.

"Don't have one yet. Sano?"

"Can you locate it?"

She pursed her lips. She was getting an echo that ran up her spine like needles. The problem was seeing through the echo to the source. Still…

"Yes."

"Then what we're going to need is a distraction."

Shoving wet bangs out of her eyes, she blinked at him. "What kind of distraction."

"The distraction-y kind."

"Sano…"

He smiled at her, all teeth. "Do you trust me?"

"We're not doing that again. That last time we had this conversation you fell off a waterfall. Do you remember that? Straight into that little lagoon full of _leeches_ and _snakes_ and worse – I had to _go in after you_."

Sano smile faded a little but he kept his game look. "There aren't any leeches here!"

"There might be snakes, but it's doubtful." Kenshin said helpfully over her shoulder.

Kaoru twisted around and glared at him. "You are not helping him."

His eyes crinkled at the corners. "No?"

"See? Even the demon agrees with me."

Kaoru turned slowly, staring Sano down. His smile widened almost painfully. She reached over, grabbed his hair and yanked him down.

"If I see anything resembling the amount of stupid that sent us over the waterfall I will kill you myself. Got it?"

"Yes Ma'am."

She let go of his hair and Sano rubbed his head before pulling his cloak back up. "So now that we know I'm the distraction, what is the plan?"

Kaoru buried her face in her hands for a moment before lifting it. "Do you have any idea of what you are going to do?"

"Working on it."

"Fine," She glanced over at Kenshin. "Can you cut me a path through those… _things_ while Sano's being all distraction-y?"

The smile was slow and sharp. "Yes."

"Then that's my plan."

Sano looked considering. "In the history of plans, not the most elaborate but it improves over your last one."

"Transportation by suicide doesn't take much to improve." Kenshin agreed.

"I can fling you both off this mountain and you can tell me how 'distraction by flying death' works."

"Now, now, Kaoru," Sano said, shaking water out of his eyes. "No need to be so cranky. I promise not to get myself killed this time."

Kaoru could feel the curiosity from the demon and blew out a breath. "I won't be as nice this time."

"I don't recall you being nice last time." Sano informed her as he pulled his cloak down and began moving slowly down the mountain. "I need half an hour."

"If you get stuck in the mud, I'm not coming after you."

"I love you too!"

Kaoru heaved a breath and shifted closer to the rock in front of her, in hopes that it would block the wind. It wasn't cold – not with the demon magic – but it was uncomfortable and the rain was still painful if it lashed her in the face. When this was over, neither demon no whining Sano was going to stop her from finding the nearest desert and _baking_.

"You've known each other a long time."

Before she could move to see him – to see if his expression matched the bemused expression in his voice – he had settled behind her, using his shoulders to protect her face. She tilted her face and blinked at him, more aware that ever of just how close he seemed to settle himself whenever he liked.

"Most of my life."

Kenshin seemed to consider that and she turned her attention back to the slow moving lump that was Sano. Sano could take care of himself – his mage skills were minimal and he had no bond, but the potential to be explosive was there when he needed it. If he was smart about it. She grimaced. The big lug better take care of himself.

"You grew up together in the Temples then?"

Kaoru frowned at the persistence of his questioning. It wouldn't hurt to make it absolutely clear where Sano was concerned she would take no interference.

"Sano has been the one constant in my life since I was thirteen – he is my brother in everything but blood."

"Ah."

She bit her lip after he fell into another of those long silence and wasn't comfortable in breaking it herself. Instead, her eyes stayed stuck on the careful way her friend was moving.

"If you are going to learn anything about me, Kaoru, you need to ask. I would like to answer your questions as well." There was something in his voice that made her stomach jump. "There is no need to be shy."

She clenched her fists, because she _was_ feeling shy and it was ridiculous. "Are you always this annoying?"

His laughter was soft and did funny things to her chest. "That depends. My Master would most certainly agree with you on that score."

"Master?"

"One of the most common means of training magical gifts is for a master-student relationship. Very early in development, your people were crafty enough to borrow as much as they could from older races. This included most of your teaching styles."

Kaoru finally lost sight of Sano and tilted where she could catch the gleaming gold of his eyes. "We are not assigned as an apprentice for several years."

His lips quirked but he filled in her unspoken question. "We can be assigned from a very young age; I am an orphan and so I was given into the care of like-magic almost immediately. I was both lucky and cursed to have the same Master for the entirety of my training."

She blinked water from her eyes, considering that this demon had lost his parents even earlier than she had. She had least had the memory of her father and she was bemused to realize she wanted to know what memory he had to carry with him. Unwilling to open up such an emotional line of questions, she chose a different path.

"How long was your training?"

"The way you keep time? A few hundred years."

Kaoru pushed hair out of her eyes, unexpectedly disgruntled. "No wonder you are better than me."

His eyes crinkled at the corners. "I am stronger, yes; but our styles are very different. You do not give yourself enough credit."

Studying his face to decide if he was patronizing her, and analyzing how she felt when she realized he wasn't, she flinched at a sudden explosion of sound. The slow way his expression changed from amused to anticipatory made her heart hammer in her chest.

"I believe that is our distraction."

* * *

_**Please Comment**_


	4. Chapter 4

I am so freaking glad that this chapter is over. I know I rewrote it at least seven times. At least. Huge thanks to Vashka and Wren for saving my sanity. Jane Drew, Some_Scribbles and Dragonsdaughter for their encouragement.

This is done. Complete. Final Chapter. =)

Thank you so much for all the reviews! I hope you enjoy it!

Ravyn

* * *

Kaoru had no idea what Sano's distraction was although it seemed to involve a large number of small explosions. Since she knew the effort it took her friend to channel that kind of energy she forced herself not to think about what he had to be doing. Later… later she would have time to yell at him. Kenshin was a flickering, red-edged blur that moved through the goblins and the remaining human-husks. The ridge they were fighting on was several hundred yards wide but the sharp, jagged walls of the mountain rose up as a natural barrier on one side.

The rain made things tricky but not impossible as she worked to keep the grasping hands and poisoned teeth away from her while avoiding any deep ruts of mud. She shook her wet bangs out of her eyes and adjusted the grip she had on her sword. So far she hadn't found anything that looked like an entrance or the opening to a lair and she was starting to feel worried. Another wave of goblins crawled down a near-vertical rock outcrop and she cursed, looking to find room to move without being forced into the deep mud. Fire flicked out around in whip-like spirals and she worked to dry out her footing. Even worse was the smell. Thick, rotting mud and the smells of burnt goblin hardly made the air worth breathing.

Just as she started to work her way west along one wall, a sudden trembling in the earth caught her off guard. Glancing around to see if Sano had caused yet another explosion she stumbled as the ground directly under her seemed to pitch. She'd been in an earth quake before, but this wasn't quite like the ground shakes she had experienced. The sludge under her feet shivered and she stared in disbelief at a large ripple that flickered from one of those high walls towards her feet.

Then a wide, gaping chasm opened and rushed towards her.

A cave-in.

She didn't have time or the balance to run as the ground shuddered and broke away. Slipping, she could only scramble as the ground she was straining against disappeared in a wet sucking noise. Stifling her scream, she clenched her teeth together to brace for whatever impact was coming just as something slammed into the back of her skull and her vision went dark.

When she woke, Kenshin was carrying her. Her first reaction was to wiggle so he would put her down, but her head throbbed at the movement and she stifled her groan against his shoulder. His chin brushed the top of her head and for a moment magic buzzed in the air, pushing lightly along flesh and sparking against her skin. Then it was gone and she was set carefully on her feet.

To her relief, one arm stayed firmly around her waist.

"What happened?"

"My best guess? Goblins. The cave-in wasn't as wide as it was deep. We're a few hundred feet from the surface but it doesn't look like they did more than compromise the cave-ceiling in that one location."

Kaoru grimaced. Just her luck to be standing where the ground was weakest, then. She glanced around irritably and wished he had found her sword. "That could have been worse than it was."

"Hmm," he agreed.

She puffed out a breath and untangled her fingers from his shirt, taking a wobbly step on knees that weren't quite the consistency of jelly. "Sano?"

"As best I can tell, he is still aboveground."

Kaoru took a deep breath and immediately regretted it- the stench of rotting bodies was worse here. Pulling a face, she finally glanced around and realized that the cave-in had brought them into a series of tunnels. Now that her head was no longer buzzing from the fall, she could feel the itch of foreign magic.

"Well… the good news appears to be that we've fallen into the den." Kaoru muttered, rubbing the back of her neck where the worst of the magic induced buzzing seemed to be centered. She frowned. She didn't remember reading any reports on cave systems…

"Is this system extensive?"

He arched a red brow at her, before scanning the area. "The Dragon's Back is riddled with caves; it's why there is such a problem with Goblins and other larger predators. By the stench, it appears that there are more than just goblins and humans down here."

"It reeks."

Kenshin shrugged one shoulder, but his finger traced up behind her ear, along her neck and dispelling the worse of the buzz before settling against what felt like good sized bump. "Are you alright?"

"A bit dizzy but that won't last long." Lifting her gaze back to his face, she studied him. "How did I end up with only a bump?"

"I caught you."

She frowned at him, trying to calculate how that was possible. "The floor disappeared and you _caught_ me?"

His eyes glittered with repressed amusement. "Yes."

She puffed out her cheeks for a moment – considering what that would have taken – before blowing out a breath. "You didn't tell me you were _that_ fast."

A faint smile tugged at his mouth. "Would you have believed me?"

"I have no idea." Reaching up she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "How well can you see in the dark?"

He paused for a long moment, magic constricting around him. "Fairly well; but nothing will sneak up on us, if that is what has you worried."

She shook her head, trying to assimilate the assumptions she had been running on with what was now in front of her. "No, I was hoping to get a lot closer to the soul eater without giving away exactly where we are. I know the cave-in eliminates most of our surprise, but…"

"Kaoru?"

She chewed on her lip for a moment. "How extensive do you believe these caves are?"

"The echoes are deep."

Kaoru pursed her lips and considered that. "Do you think it is possible to go back up?"

"No. We will have to find our way from here."

"We'll there must be a way if the goblins are about…" She let her words trail off.

"Something is bothering you."

"We need to kill the soul eater."

"Kaoru."

She was silent for a long moment. "Its… these tunnels should be overrun with goblins. This is breeding season and even without the soul eater…."

She felt uneasy. Why had the local temple sent out _one_ small detail to deal with the goblin menace in this area if there was such an extensive area of caves for breeding? Even worse, this would be known as a trouble spot. She and Sano were independent of the foot-ranks, but they should have been aware…_especially_ with the possibility of the eclipse. With the complete change in mindset she had been attempting with Kenshin and now this... she felt more than a little disturbed. What was going on?

Kenshin cut into her thoughts. "The floor is littered with rocks and decaying bodies; there is also the matter of the uneven floor."

The silent 'you can't see where you are going' hung between them. She grimaced. "Excellent."

"I could carry you."

She blinked. "How would you fight?"

His teeth glinted white in the murky light. "Neither the soul eater or the host shells can come close enough to engage either of us without my knowledge. But we need to move – either to find a way out or to track down your soul eater."

This was probably their best chance to find and kill the soul eater. Pursing her lips, she finally nodded. "Let's kill it."

The trip was surprisingly comfortable: he was warm and solid against her front, and her knees were braced on his forearms as he walked. It gave her an excellent opportunity to feel the play and shift of muscles under his back and shoulders as he moved. Under the stench of goblin gunk and the faint scent of sweat were the heat of embers and the slightest touch of ginger. His gait was surprisingly smooth on the rough ground and her aching body appreciated it. Her neck and shoulders were tight with strain and the pounding in the back of her head was only worsened by the scattered sensations of foreign magic. The fact that the cave darkened until she couldn't see even her hand in front of her face as they walked…

"Do you do this often?" She hoped he would tell her if talking was a bad idea. As it was, the darkness swallowed her whisper.

He paused for a moment, body loose even as he stared thoughtfully in the absolute darkness around them. When he spoke, his voice was as soft as hers had been. "Do what?"

"Carry people."

"I have a friend who used to be particular about her play-rides as a child…" his tone was absent but his thumb roved along her calf before he started walking again. Kaoru wondered if she was broadcasting her nerves.

Shaking off her unease, she couldn't do anything about it now; she let herself be distracted by his words. She twisted a tie from his shirt between her fingers as she considered his statement. It shouldn't have surprised her that he had friends – eccentric ones if she was hearing it right – but she hadn't honestly stopped to consider it. This… demon had a life somewhere else. But he was here, with her, chasing down soul eaters.

"Do you want to go back?"

He didn't bother pretending he didn't understand the question, for which she was grateful.

"I plan to, eventually." He traced another one of those almost-patterns against her leg. "But I am content here."

There was silence except for the faintest sound of his boots against the packed earth and her uneven, nervous breathing. She wished she knew how he walked so silently, even carrying an extra hundred pounds of weight on his back. Another spike of _that_ magic told her he was moving in the right direction and she chewed on her lip. The stench had deadened her nose enough that if they were passing any new bodies, she couldn't tell. She wondered if he could see in the endless darkness or if he had another way of walking unhampered.

"What about you?"

She jumped a little at his sudden comment and she swallowed, pulling herself together. "Hmmm?"

"Do you have any particular wish to stay in this layer?"

She frowned at him in the darkness. She assumed that he was partially aware of her family circumstances but… "I have… never considered the possibility of leaving. I could never leave Sano behind."

He stopped then, as if digesting her words. "You have no other family?"

She curled her fingers into his shirt on reflex and then hastily let go. Those were memories she couldn't afford to touch right now. "My parents died a long time ago. My ties here are to Sano and to my oaths."

He started walking again, without making any comment and she was thankful. Then she remembered that he had said he was an orphan and raised by his master. Biting her lip, she shifted a little and carefully rested her cheek against his shoulder, letting the feel of him calm her jumpy nerves. She fingers tightened around the tie in his shirt as she realized what she was doing… and how much she instinctively trusted him by doing it.

"I cannot extend your Sano's life, Kaoru."

She frowned. "I know. My life is… was always going to be longer than his." She considered what he was asking without asking and sighed. "Sano… Sano will find his way, Kenshin. But I will not leave him."

"I know."

"Is… is that why so many people wish to bond with your kind? The belief that you can save their loved ones?" If so, why did the temple discourage such relationships?

Kenshin was silent long enough that she wondered if he was going to answer. "There have been times in the past were such things were possible – but it is not my kind of magic and the price has always been high. But yes, in the beginning before your kind struck its bonds with the elemental beasts, a demon was a chance to cheat death."

Kaoru frowned, trying to understand his tone and then stilled. The twist in her gut told her she wasn't as okay with what she was thinking as she should be. She hesitated, wondering if this was even the moment to bring it up… and then swallowed her fear.

"There was someone else, wasn't there. Before me."

Kenshin stopped walking.

"Not in the way that you are thinking." He said quietly. "There was a war. It is not unusual; they crop up every few generations or so. We have learned to go to a layer instead of bringing the layer to us… but yes, there was… someone."

At her silence, he jostled her a little.

"I told you that demons wait for magic to match them."

"Yes."

"Religion is a human expression but… to put it in a context that you know; I suppose you could say magic is our religion. And like most religions, turning away from it has consequences."

"What do you mean?"

"For a time, I did consider the possibility of bonding with her . I have lived a long time and even demons are given to doubting. But she failed the basic tests that I demanded of myself and I refused. It was clear that she wasn't interested in more than my magic and that it could save what was left of her family. I chose to stay to the path magic had laid out for me. My refusal eventually caused… problems."

There was a wealth of information missing in those sentences, but this wasn't the time. Instead, she latched on to what he could answer now.

"I don't remember any tests."

He laughed silently, body moving against hers. "That is the point, Kaoru – if you knew you were being tested you might have reacted differently. But for you… the tests were different. Magic _chose you__._ That is the difference."

The tie cut into her fingers. "So you really didn't make a snap decision about this."

"No."

"But you expected me too?"

He considered her words. "I did not expect you to so forcefully reject my attempts to get to know you through your dreams. By the time you tried to splice yourself, I had less patience than I had anticipated."

She frowned. "That doesn't sound like an apology."

She felt his amusement. "It isn't."

She pinched him and then jumped when he lightly returned the favor.

"I should warn you, I will not give up easily."

She blew out a breath and glared at where she thought the back of his head was. "I don't make decisions like this lightly."

"At least you are thinking about it."

And she was. She just didn't think her thoughts were moving in the direction he thought they were. All she could think about, the thought bouncing around in the back of her head like a demented humming bird was that the temple had been wrong. The one defense she had been capable of using to avoid this… _relationship_, was based on the belief that demons were monsters.

She had grown up with a family that had taught acceptance. She had learned the hard way as a teenager what happens when you aren't accepted by those with the power to persecute. Then she had spent a wild eighteen-months on the trade caravan before she found herself enrolled in temple classes to hone her abilities. It wasn't until the temple training that the idea that demons were evil. It wasn't really until she had met the demon's gaze in the desert that she had honestly started to dig into what humans knew about them. What she found had left her knowing she had to avoid the demon bothering her and all kinds of other preconceived notions.

And Kenshin clearly didn't fit any of them. Oh, he certainly didn't have her morals and he had a skewed, demonic view of things but he wasn't evil. He was just different. And unfortunately, she was beginning to see that those differences were ones that she could accept – if she wanted to.

"We're getting close."

Kaoru opened her eyes wide in darkness and besides more of that smell, couldn't locate anything that would let her know what she was facing. The muscles under her stomach and fingers were tense – the faint noise of footsteps disappearing completely as he moved slowly forward. Kaoru curled her fingers into his shirt and worked on keeping her breathing light and near-silent.

She was prepared Kenshin stopping, but the way he let her body slide slowly down his back was not what she has been expecting. Glaring in the direction of his face, she would have sworn she felt him amusement before he placed one hand on her shoulder and directed her into a crouch before joining her. His breath was hot against her ear when he spoke again.

"There is a small bend and an out cropping of rocks between us and the soul-eater's lair."

"How many?" her voice was a mere thread of sound.

Kenshin paused. "It is difficult to pinpoint them as individuals – an exact number will require light."

Light would mean an immediate attack. Kaoru chewed on her bottom lip as she stared blankly at the darkness, Kenshin's shoulder warm against her own. She hadn't anticipated dealing with more than one soul eater. She swallowed down her instinctive horror and forced herself to think. So if it had completed its gate… how long ago was that? How many had crawled through?

"I will buy you time."

Kaoru's head lifted and she wished she could see him. "You can kill Soul Eaters?"

Then why…

"Not in this number." He murmured quietly. "There are… limitations to the amount of power I can manifest at any one time in this layer."

"Then how…"

Warm fingers ghosted over her wrist. "Channeling power to you does not upset the balance."

Running her fingers through her bangs, she made a soft noise of frustration. She had no idea what he was talking about. Another set of questions to ask about later. Taking a deep breath, she considered her options. Soul eaters had to be burned out – it was the only way to destroy their magic. Even with Kenshin's power pressing so thickly against her barriers, the effort of calling her beast to that level of manifestation… It would take every drop of personal power she had. In those few moments where she was pulling up her magic it would leave her completely dependent on Kenshin for protection. He had proven that he would go to whatever lengths it would take to protect her but…

Warm lips brushed her ear as Kenshin spoke. "You will take whatever you need to destroy these creatures, Kaoru."

"But…"

"Whatever lengths necessary," he repeated. "I will attack them to buy you the time you need for this. Do not do anything that will allow those creatures near your soul, Kaoru – I will not share it." Something like humor lightened the hard tone of his voice as he curled his fingers around her elbow, helping her stand. "At least, not anymore than I already am."

A quick, playful brush of his fingers against her cheek and then she was alone in the darkness. He had stopped making any noise in the darkness and she stood there, senses straining to feel anything other than the buzz of his magic against her skin. The sudden fire-bright flare high in the uneven ceilings almost blinded her for a moment. By the time she regained her ability to see, the sound of steel humming through the air sounded loud in the stillness of the cave.

Using the time he was buying for her, she crept around the edge of the outcropping she could just make out in the flickering light Kenshin was holding for her. The sight made her heart sink and she couldn't breathe. For a moment, even the buzzing in her head faded away. Not only had the soul eater had already completed its gate… it had already started to bring over its nest. This many soul eaters would stay in the caves until the infestation was near-endless. Multiple gates. Large families. Uneasy suspicions that the temple was somehow involved. More importantly – she had never heard of a nest this large being exterminated completely.

She stared at the writhing bodies and tentacles that filled the cavern with horror – even as her eyes moved to track the way Kenshin moved through them. She stared at the writhing bodies and tentacles that filled the cavern with horror – even as her eyes moved to track the way Kenshin moved through them. For a moment, the stark terror faded under her anger as the certainty that Kenshin had realized the situation and chosen not to tell her burned in her stomach. She either used what her apparent personal demon was offering… or they would consume all the life on this layer before moving into the next. In order to let loose the manifestation of her fire-beast… she would have to let her inner-barriers fall.

All of them.

_Damn him_, he'd _known_.

So her choice was to let the demon crawl through her inner barriers… or let the soul eaters continue to grow until the end of the eclipse. Which _he knew_… the urge to throttle him was strong enough that her fingers curled into fists. Stupid, _stupid_ Kaoru for forgetting that he was a _demon_ and that while he was willing to protect her, he wasn't against using this to this advantage. Damn him, he'd kept her just off balance enough in the cave that she hadn't really considered what would happen if there was more than on soul eater – kept her from considering that she might run into _this_ situation. And she'd let him. She'd been _curious_.

And she'd fail to plan ahead and protect herself from this very situation – a promise not to use her unleashing as a chance to surround her soul in magic and fire. She could almost bet he'd been waiting for this since she had sat up in his cabin and told him her intentions to find the soul eater and kill it. She just wished she knew if she was pissed because he had let her create her own trap or that she'd fallen for it. It was her own damn sense of justice that had gotten her into this mess. Damn, sneaky, _unscrupulous demon_ who had managed to win her without her permission after all.

Her eyes flickered to the blur that was Kenshin as he moved through tentacles, the thick stench of decaying bodies mingling with the burning of something _other_; faint trails of fire flickering around him and the steel of his blade. He seemed unfazed by any of it and she could feel the beat of his magic moving around her like a cloak. Her jaw clenched for just a moment, she fantasized about just leaving him there – it would serve him _right_. But the remembrance of her body's reaction to him at the cabin, his unusual gentleness with her as she recovered from their fall. The way he had teased her as he carried through the darkness of the cavern. His honesty in answering her questions, even the uncomfortable ones. How he made her feel safe. The fact that even pissed enough to see red… she still found herself wanting him. Didn't mean she wasn't going to make him pay for it later.

Rolling silently to her feet, she curled her mental-fingers inside her barriers and wrapped herself in her elemental-beast and untangled her defenses. This was not the small opening she had granted Kenshin earlier, but an unleashing. And with each strand she pulled away, Kenshin's power wiggled in. She let it. She _felt him_, felt the heat of his awareness as he paused in his battle.

She lifted her gaze. Power pulsed around him, burned along his eyes and tossed his messy bangs. There was _awareness_ and the scorching, narrow eyed gaze cut into her like a knife. She held his gaze and met it. His sword flickered out, destroying a tentacle and then his lips curled upwards in a triumphant, sharply edged smile. The last of her barriers gave way and as her beast unfurled its wings, Kenshin's power rushed to fill all the empty places inside her soul. Unlike that first rush of her fire-beast, this felt like more – it wasn't just power, but it a tangible emotion that felt like a moment she was overwhelmed in fire and magic, the sensation of drowning in heat – and then she was back on her feet and the world was brightening in scarlet and white as her beast manifested in the dark gloom of the cave.

For the first time in her life, Kaoru really understood the draw of power. In the past, she had felt hallow, weak in her joints in that absentminded awareness she maintained as she let her beast out to destroy her enemies – now she felt full. Heat swam through her in waves, holding her steady as her senses tangled with the bird that was a manifestation of her soul. It screamed in challenge, the haunting notes of its song filling her ears until the cave disappeared in a wash for light and fire.

The cave was filled with color and the strange, twisted shapes and tentacles that launched themselves at her were a wrong, disembodied vibration that angered her. Twisting along the paths of fire and magic that were second nature, she let claw and talon tear through the wrongness of them, pushing fire and magic until the sense of it disappeared.

Kaoru had no idea how long she hovered in that mingled awareness.

She had noticed before that her phoenix-self saw colors differently – saw more than she could translate as a human. But looking at Kenshin, she realized just had different the depths were. The red of his hair was deeper and brighter, a glitter of amber-gold and sunshine in his eyes that was more yellow than she could describe. It was if all the human expectations had been stripped from his skin and she seeing something raw… something inhuman. The fact that he was so utterly beautiful _even now_…

She wondered what he saw when he looked at her.

For an endless moment she and the phoenix hovered, staring down at the demon sheathing its sword. Then, suddenly, the phoenix folded its wing and dissolved into a waterfall of fire, falling back beneath her skin like water. She staggered, slipping and landing on her butt as her knees gave out from the exertion of the battle and the return of her elemental. Her eyes closed as it swelled and filled the grooves and places that Kenshin's magic hadn't settled into, curled up in its place in her soul. The world was tilting a little at the corners from sudden exhaustion but instead of a raging migraine from overuse, she felt like her bones had been replaced with jelly.

A warm, long fingered palm settled between her should blades. She had felt him approach and had been leaning into his touch before he even reached her. Cracking her eyes open, she watched the emotions flicker across his face, the dark gold of his eyes.

"Beautiful."

Without a properly functioning skeletal system, she had nothing to hold her up and she let Kenshin take her weight. She didn't bother to reply. Trusting him to take care of her, she let go so she could examine how much damage if any had been done to her internal webs of magic. With her beast returned to its rightful place, she found that Kenshin's magic was twining itself along her core and her barriers, strengthening and filling in the weak points.

When she opened her eyes, she was outside and it was still misting. Kenshin must have found an overhanging that blocked most of the wind. Blinking, she blew her bangs out of her eyes as her arms still weren't responding properly. While she objected to feeling like a rag doll, the utter lack of burning headache was nice.

"You're awake then."

Carefully turning her head – her neck, at least, was working – she met Sano's tense expression. Relief flooded through her at seeing her friend in one piece. There was a bruise on one cheekbone and his eyes looked tired but there was a long stem of grass sticking out one side of his mouth. A clear sign that he was comfortable enough for habits.

"You're okay."

He snorted, tilting his face so that the drizzle hit the back of his cloak and not his face. "You fainted."

"I did not."

"Uh huh," Sano arched a brow, gaze cutting in her direction. "Your eyes were closed and you fell over. What else do you call that?"

"You weren't even _there_!" She flexed her fingers, waiting for the tingling sensation of limbs waking up to fade. "Some distraction you were!"

Sano sat up straight, looking affronted while he pulled the grass out of his mouth "Hey now! My distraction was perfect! You're the one who fell down some damn little hole and left me to deal with all the half-corpses that kept trying to bite me! My plan was perfect, _your_ follow through sucked!"

"You blew up some rocks! That probably helped create the 'little hole' I took a nose dive into you!"

"Like hell!" He pointed a finger at her. "This one is entirely your fault; you and your damn knack for falling off shit."

"Because you _knock me off_!"

"You're shields are fine, although I had hoped you'd be resting." Kenshin's voice cut into their growing argument and she twisted her head to see him walking down a rock at an angle that should have been impossible. His expression was surprisingly bland and as he crouched down, she could _feel_ him brushing through her.

"I was not aware that your elemental beast was more than a mere fire-bird."

Sano's head snapped around. "What? _You told him_?"

Kaoru fisted her hands. "_Sano_! I just dealt with a _nest of soul eaters_. He watched me fight them. Of course he knows!"

"Of all the _fucking_…_Kaoru_! You went _fire-bird_ in there? _Without me_? We have _rules_ about this!"

Her bones were starting to feel less like soggy bread and more like slightly-chewed on sticks, so she leaned forward and bared her teeth. "_Soul. Eater. Nest_. How else was I suppose to kill them?"

Warm fingers curled her shoulders and she found herself settled back against the rock wall. Yellow eyes gleamed with amusement and a possessiveness she hadn't quite noticed before.

"Why a phoenix, Kaoru?"

"So she can bloody try to kill herself as many times as she wants. She apparently likes the practice," Sano snapped.

Kenshin went still and tense next to her. She mentally cursed. "That isn't it!"

Sano's jaw worked, teeth grinding as he bit down on whatever remark was about to explode out. Since Kenshin was watching her with eyes that could cut through glass, she didn't mind at all that her tall friend was probably cracking his molars. Instead she drew a deep breath and leveled Kenshin with a look.

"It's _not_ that."

"Like hell!"

Kaoru really wished for something heavy to hit him with. "Sano, shut up! I can only deal with one of you at a time!"

And Kenshin had gone all quiet and dangerous inside the pocket of her soul. Closing her eyes, she counted to ten, steadied herself and then opened her eyes.

"It was an accident. My father had died recently and my gift… one of the local medicine men took me out into a field and left me. Either I found something or some way to control the fire or they return it to the gods."

"They didn't take you a temple?"

"The nearest temple… was not an option at the time." Kaoru said quietly. "I don't know what I did wrong in the summoning. I didn't even know that it wasn't…" she shrugged. "I couldn't go back to the village so I ended up hitching along with a merchant train, which is where I met Sano."

"I still want to know why you felt comfortable showing fang-y here your damn bird!" Sano said, breaking into the way she couldn't quite pull herself out of Kenshin's gaze to finish the story.

"Kenshin told you there was an entire family of them?" Kaoru snarled, turning to glare at him.

Sano flexed his fingers. "He might have mentioned something about numbers."

"An infestation like that takes _time_."

Some of the rage left his expression and he ran his hand over his face, wiping away the thin layer of water. "What are you saying?"

She took a long, slow breath. "It might have been a test."

Sano exploded into a series of curses and Kenshin leaned forward, amber eyes intent. "What kind of test?"

Kaoru met his gaze and bit back the smart remark hovering on the edge of her tongue. "The temple is unaware of the true nature of my fire-beast. I've done my best to keep it that way. They don't care for the greater creatures…"

"A few years ago, there was an incident." Sano's face was tight. "I thought I killed all those bastards."

Kaoru shrugged. "I don't know. But we have to face the possibility that word was sent back. I just don't… it's an _eclipse_."

Warm, calloused fingers curved around her fisted hand. "You're worried about the temple."

"I…it's a possibility that they know about my fire-beast… but it might have nothing to do with _those_ oaths." She hesitated and then shrugged. "I've been asking a lot of questions about demons."

Then there was the fact that the temple had obviously lied about demons. If what Kenshin had said was true – everything in her soul said it _was_ – then there were far reaching issues that she hadn't even started to consider. What was the temple gaining from such doctrines, how did that affect their relationships with the bonded humans and what was she going to do about it?

Kenshin faced her. "You believe they sent you here to die because of our connection."

"I don't know." Kaoru said slowly before scowling. "And there wasn't a '_connection'_ before this. It's more likely that someone could have discovered the truth of what I carry… I just don't _know_."

"That's why you asked about the cave system." Kenshin said suddenly, eyes narrowing into slits. There was something dangerous lurking behind his eyes and the magic around her thickened, twisting into thick ropes that were making it hard to breathe. She bit her lip and glanced at Sano who frowned for a moment and then shrugged and stepped back into the light rain.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned forward and jabbed him in the shoulder. She might have accepted what her soul had been telling her about this demon from the beginning – before she realized how sneaky he was – but that didn't mean he wasn't in trouble.

"You did that on _purpose_."

He arched a brow, gaze meeting hers. "Did what?"

"You know exactly what." To prove her point, she ran mental fingers along the edges of the power curled inside her. She wasn't prepared for the way his eyes glazed just slightly before he shook himself, the edge of his mouth curled to show the sharp point of one fang. To distract herself, she took a deep breath and jumped into the argument with both feet.

"So how long have you been planning to take advantage of the situation?" The words ground out between her locked teeth and he had the audacity to look amused. Instead of backing away to give them both some space, he shifted forward, pressing one hand against the wall next to her and pressing caging her in with the warmth of his body.

"I haven't started to take advantage, Kaoru."

She snorted. "Bullshit."

His eyes glittered. "Such a grumpy little mage."

"You _cheated_."

"I did no such thing."

Both eyebrows arched. "You did too. You knew I would have to choice between letting my barriers down and dealing with what was in those caves. I just don't know _how_ you knew!"

He shrugged, completely unrepentant. "I had considered the possibility that there were more… creatures than you had anticipated."

She started to open her mouth, angry, but his fingers slid over her lips.

"However, even I could not have planned for such an event or that you would bare your soul in such a manner. Hope… well, that is something else entirely. It was your choice, Kaoru to let me in to save yourself and I am not leaving."

She clenched her teeth to keep from biting him. When his fingers trailed down her chin to curve along her jaw, she managed to gain enough control to keep from strangling him.

"Which was _cheating_."

"_Your_ soul welcomes _mine_."

His eyes and tone challenged her to deny it and she couldn't. She didn't really want to argue about this either but she had hoped she would have time to think about what her realizations in the cave meant without his demanding her honesty. Because if she hadn't accepted that the temple had lied**,** if she hadn't made the decision to trust him before she reached the soul eaters, she would have broken herself to dissolve the bond between them, even though her soul craved his. When she stayed silent, the lines of his body relaxed and he leaned in even further, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"_Your_ soul welcomes _me_ ." The careful, measured weight of his words demanded a response and she blew out a long breath.

"Yes."

His kiss was claiming. Her fingers curled into fists as he angled her jaw with his hands just _so_ and possessed her mouth in a way he hadn't before. One hand slid slowly down her neck, curling along her collarbones as he leaned into her. The echo of the bond between them washed through her like the desert sun and when he pulled back, lips as kiss bruised as her own – he smiled.

"I told you that you are mine."

X

"I do not understand your obsession for the desert. You have your own little space heater. I'm the one who has to suffer through the cold now that we pitch two tents." Sano groused as he flopped next to her, bare-chested and without his boots.

"I thought you were going to go bother _other_ people … like that lady doctor."

"She threw me out."

Kaoru laughed, "Unsurprising."

"The Priests wanted to know where you were. I told them you were baking. They were impressed with the soul eater kills, but were a bit displeased we lost so many men. We're on temporary suspension until they can look into the details."

Kaoru cracked an eye open. "What did you think?"

"_Hell_ if I know." He ran his hands through his hair. "I just… don't know. There was something…off, today. Anyway, they don't know about short and brimstone yet. I think it's a good idea if we don't bring him up anytime soon."

She sighed and nodded before making a face. "He isn't made of brimstone, Sano."

"Sure he isn't."

"Sano!"

Sano tilted his head, shutting his eyes. "Where is he anyway? Here I thought he would be taking the opportunity to jump down your pants while I was gone. Especially since he's been doing it everywhere else." The last of his sentence was muttered.

Kaoru flushed scarlet and scooped up a hand of sand, throwing it at him. "_Sanosuke_!"

Sano blinked rapidly and glared at her, curling his fingers through the sand as if he was considering retaliation. "It's the truth and you know it."

"I've only known him for three weeks, regardless of everything else." Kaoru said through clenched teeth. "I'm not ready for… _that_."

And like hell if she was going to make anything easy for him. His damnable, amused patience just made her want to suffocate him with his pillow.

Sano shrugged and dug his fingers into the sun baked grains. "I don't care. Just make sure you have some damn silencing spells up when you _do_ decide you're ready for that."

Kaoru shot him a furious look. "So says the man who's snoring is so damn loud we were politely asked to pay the fee for someone to come in and spell your room or leave!"

"The demon paid for it!"

There was a snort and Kenshin dropped into a crossed legged position, brow arched over pale eyes. Kaoru tried and failed not to stare at the expanse of his bare chest and shoulders. "I paid it because Kaoru wanted to sleep somewhere nice. Next time, I'll offer to suffocate you while you're sleeping."

Sano made a rude hand gesture and Kaoru kicked sand on him, but aimed at his legs, thankful for the distraction. Kenshin was already watching her with a knowing smile. "I'm trying to nap here and if you two don't stop it, you can leave."

Kenshin's response was to scoot closer and tangle his fingers with hers, ignoring Sano's irritated mumblings and her grumpy stare. She shut her eyes in an attempt to block them both out. She wouldn't put it past either of them to fall into a staring match but she supposed if she didn't see it she couldn't start complaining, yet.

The Temple was going to be a problem, but not one that she would have to deal with just yet. She hadn't even started finding where the original corruption started… or if it was corruption at all. It could have just been that this was the way it had always been, but what did it mean if that was the case?

The two week suspension gave her some time to think. Her magic levels had balanced weeks ago thanks to Kenshin, but there was nothing like laying out in the desert sun, her beast a warm layer of protection from sunburn while her magic lazily curled around her. It was different now with Kenshin. He was a warm ball of power next to her beast and he was the first layer of shields around her magic. They were still working on the perimeters of their relationship and while they shared a tent they rarely shared sleeping space.

When she told Sano she wasn't ready for more in their relationship yet, she meant it.

Kenshin's thumb brushed along her palm, a silent reminder that he was there – and half-_naked_ –and worked to keep from smiling. She really didn't plan on making it easy and he saw too much as it was. No, whatever came up she would just have deal with it.

Sand landed on her face.

Oh, she'd handle it alright. And she'd _start_ by clunking their _thick skulls together_.

"_Sano_!"

* * *

_Please comment!_


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